Govind Padmasoorya: You cannot discount any media platform right now

Malayalam actor and TV anchor Govind Padmasoorya is gearing up for his debut OTT release with Christopher Columbus. The actor recently shared the first look poster of the upcoming Malayalam-English bilingual, which is directed by Prashanth Sasi.

Talking to OTTplay about the film that is backed by a UK production firm, Padmasoorya says, “It’s an interesting murder mystery of sorts and the story itself has a huge scope. It’s got multiple layers and my portions are part of the regional thread of the film. These were shot in Thrissur and Irinjalakuda in Kerala after the lockdown rules were relaxed last year.”

The actor also says that the makers have plans for a sequel too. “I was intrigued by how the story will pan out after this movie. That’s one of the reasons that attracted me to sign the film. The sequel will require a lot of travelling abroad. My character is what ties the different chapters that are told in the movie,” says Padmasoorya, about the film that also has a few foreign actors playing pivotal roles.

The movie’s experimental aspect is another trait that appealed to him, especially during the pandemic, he says. “I might not have signed this film before the pandemic. I was at a stage in my career where I was highly selective and would choose just a Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo or a Kee from what I was offered. But after lockdown, I realised that you don’t pick projects based on how big or small a movie is. You have to experiment based on the space you have because today you can’t predict what works and what doesn’t,” he explains.

Ask him if this is due to the surging popularity of OTTs and YouTube, and the actor says, “Now, you don’t belittle any content that is uploaded on YouTube. It was a huge learning for me because in the past year, I got more exposure through my YouTube channel than anything else, with some videos getting even 1 million views. So, you get as much viewership as a mainstream film does through such media.”

Padmasoorya says that he is now game for more experiments. “I am also doing a Telugu movie in which I play one of the leads. It’s a very interesting project that will be announced soon,” he says. “But I am not limiting myself to just theatrical releases anymore; I am also doing short films and videos on YouTube, movies on OTTs and hosting projects on TV. You cannot discount any platform right now because there’s a huge audience out there that consumes all types of content.”

The actor points out the example of the Hindi dubbed version of Mohanlal’s Big Brother, which amassed 17 million views in just a week after it was released on YouTube. “I got calls from North India from my friends in the distribution field, asking if there are more such films because they found that there’s a market for Malayalam movies that are dubbed in Hindi,” he says.

With Padmasoorya being active on social media, TV and films, in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil, does he have a leg up over the competition? “Right now, you have to excel in anything that you do. If you are a star, you have to become a pan-Indian actor, if you have a vlog, yours should be the most popular. So, you have to continuously strive to be the best,” he signs off.