Tovino Thomas on 2018’s Oscar entry: This has been the ambition since I started | Exclusive

Those who have followed Tovino Thomas’ career would discern the magic that is unfolding with the selection of 2018: Everyone Is A Hero as India’s official entry to the 96th Academy Awards, which is set to be held in March 2024.

In more ways than one, it almost feels like the entire universe has conspired to make this happen for the actor, who incidentally also played the lead role in Salim Ahammed’s And The Oscar Goes To. The movie revolved around the challenges that Salim had to go through while trying to represent his film Adaminte Makan Abu, which was India’s official entry to Oscars in 2012, at the international stage.

In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, Tovino, who is currently in Amsterdam where he has just received the Septimius award for Best Asian Actor for 2018, tells us, “It gives me great joy that all these laurels are coming for 2018. That this film that we all worked in, got selected for Oscars, only doubles the happiness.”

‘An opportunity to represent our culture at a global stage’

Further on what the honour of being part of India’s official entry to 2024 Oscar means to him, the Minnal Murali star says, “Ever since we have started working in the industry, all we dream about is international recognition for our movies. It’s not to say that the praise we get within the country doesn’t matter, but when we are able to take our culture and stories through our films to people abroad, it’s always a huge honour. So, getting this chance to take 2018 to an entirely diverse international audience is something that we are all happy about. I think this i s the next step to what we can achieve through our films.”

Point out that it almost seems like there’s an invisible hand guiding his career – with him acting in a film about taking a Malayalam movie to the Oscars to now being part of such a film that was picked to stand an opportunity to be nominated for the Best Foreign Film Category – and the coincidence is not lost on Tovino.

“I don’t know how to express that but it’s nice to think of it like that. It also gives me motivation to put all my heart and soul into what I do. Maybe the universe is conspiring, because this has been the ambition since I started,” says the actor.

From being trolled for a flood hero to being celebrated for the same

Incidentally, the Kerala floods of 2018, which the Jude directorial is based on also had a huge impact on Tovino. The actor was hailed as a hero for his rescue and relief efforts during the trying times in the State, putting even his own life at risk to help those who were stranded during the disaster. However, there was a section of people, who later trolled him, saying that his efforts were for publicity. The actor, however, was never fazed by this.

Tell him that now the accolades coming his way post the release of 2018 seems like a blessing of all goodwill he has earned in the past and Tovino says, “It could be. Whatever I have done during the floods, my intentions were pure. For some time, people had made fun of me, but now, at the end of the day, everything is correcting itself and good things are happening.”