No takers for young actors in Malayalam cinema

Kochi, March 28 (IANS) It's an ironical situation. At a time when the Malayalam movie industry is churning out more and more youth-oriented films, its young brigade of actors is not finding any work and some have started working in Tamil films.

Some among the promising young actors like Shaiju Kurup, Arun and Manikuttan have been left high and dry.

Shaiju Kurup made his debut in Hariharan's 'Mayookham'. His latest film 'Jubilee', directed by debutant Gee George and touted as a family entertainer, was an effort to project him as an all-rounder hero. But the film proved a dud at the box office. His earlier film 'Sketch', directed by Prasad Yadav, based on the underworld, met with the same fate.

Shaiju was, however, better noticed in big starrers like 'Baba Kalyani', 'Hello' and 'Sound of Boot'.

Second-rung young actors like Arun and Manikuttan are still waiting for their big breaks.

Arun made his debut in Fazil's 'Life is Beautiful' as a school student. This film had Mohanlal in the lead with Samyukta Varma and also marked the debut of Geetu Mohandas, who had earlier acted as a child artiste. Arun then disappeared for a few years before making a splash in Jayaraj's 'For the People'.

In 'For the People', he was a bearded and bulky college student who led a gang of four students involved in vigilante activities. Trade pundits said the film became a hit due to the music of composer Jassie Gift.

Arun got some more opportunities to make his mark in films like 'Amrutham', where he was the last-minute replacement for Prithviraj. Directed by Sibi Malayil, the film saw him playing the younger brother of Jayaram, who is embroiled in violent student politics.

'Amrutham' did not do well as expected - maybe because 'Vesham', a bigger film with a similar theme starring Mammootty and Indrajith, was released during the same time.

Arun also tried his hand, without much success, at a couple of gangster films like 'Quotation' and 'November Rain'. He is awaiting the release of 'Anamika', a woman-oriented film where he plays Samvritha's husband.

Both Shaiju and Arun were brought together in 'Anthiponvettam', but it didn't even get a decent release.

Manikuttan, a television star, debuted on the big screen with Vinayan's 'Boyy Friennd'. After that he did bit roles in many films, but nothing concrete happened in his career.

Young Malayali actors like Prithviraj and Narain are making headway in Tamil cinema. The other youngsters may soon follow suit.