EXCLUSIVE Interview! Roshan Mathew on Paradise & more: ‘Variety in work is something…’ | Not Just Bollywood

Actor Roshan Mathew wants more comedies and variety in work is something that he is actively looking for. In a candid chat with Firstpost, he talks about his recently released film Paradise which was shot in Sri Lanka.

He mentions how he is drawn to multilingual projects. He points out that none of us really go through a day of their lives with just talking in one language. So why do our stories have to be restricted to just one language?

Edited excerpts from the interview:

  Roshan , what was the preparation for the role in Paradise ? What was the research that went behind it?

It was actually very exciting. When I read the script for the first time, I found it very interesting because it was a story that involved external circumstances, affecting a married couple’s relationship. I was worried that there’ll be some similarities to the film Choked I had done with Anurag Kashyap.

So I decided to meet Prasanna, talk to him about it. And in my first conversation with him, it went on for about four and a half hours. I got a very clear sense of what he wanted to do with the script and what he wanted to explore in the relationship, and how he wanted to bring out the nuances in the relationship, or how he wanted to break down the transformation that happens in the relationship, once this inciting incident happens after the couple lands in Sri Lanka.

All of that got me really excited, because I didn’t exactly know how he was going to go, how he was going to do all of it and, how we would be able to effectively bring all of that out on screen. And that curiosity was basically what drove me to say yes to the film.

How challenging was the experience?

It was very challenging. And Prasanna is someone who has a great deal of experience in what he is doing. He has immense mastery over what he wants to do with the stories that he wants to show. And, it was a great crew working on it, and the fact this is an Anglo Sri Lankan collaboration, all of these were reasons to be excited about. So there was nothing dramatic really in the preparation. It was just a lot of looking within and finding ourselves in these characters or finding these characters in ourselves and empathizing with them and trying to understand their motives and making them be, and that is what most of the preparation is like.

When the shooting was happening in Sri Lanka , what was the situation like? How tense was the uprising like?

So the people’s revolution continues even now. But the Sri Lankan economy and the country itself has been in a process of recovery and rehabilitation as far as I understand. And that was the phase that they were in when we got there as well. So on the surface level, at first glance, it looks like everything is quiet and calm and normal.

But on a closer look, you’ll see all the turbulence underneath. And what on a daily basis, are the struggles that the people there have to live with or overcome to do whatever it is that they want to do. So my interaction was obviously mostly with people who worked on the film. You know, people who are passionate about filmmaking, people who are part of the crew. And they’re extremely dedicated, and they work very hard. But it’s a much bigger fight for them to be working in something like filmmaking at a time like this in Sri Lanka. So it was through their lens that, theirs and, obviously, Prasanna’s lens that I saw the country and what they have been going through.

And while doing the film, any incident that happened that you can connect with?

Generally, when you go out-doors to shoot, every good production house or a good film crew makes life as comfortable as possible for the actors. So initially, when we started the shoot, we weren’t exactly aware of what all was going on in the background because the planning had been done very well. But then later, as I made friends with a lot of members of the crew and became more involved in the process as such, we realised that there were a lot of practical difficulties that we usually don’t have in a place like India when we are out there making a film, which they had to work their way through.

This is a film that happens in multiple locations in Sri Lanka. This couple, Keshav and Amritha, they’re on a tour of the country, and they visit multiple spots. So, obviously, we had to shoot at all of these in different locations. And the shifts between these locations, when we go, where, and what we shoot, and when we shift from one place to other, all of that had to be meticulously planned because there is still a certain shortage of fuel that they face and fuel is also expensive. So something like, you know, how much fuel we spend and how do we plan travel and all becoming a major factor that influences scheduling and decision making is not usually what we face in India when we are out there shooting.

And from a Sri Lankan perspective if you see, when a foreign production house comes in to make a Sri Lankan movie it means a lot for them. It’s a big door of hope and possibilities that this project was opening, and that was there to be seen and felt every single day. That’s a ground reality. Getting in touch with the ground reality, meeting with the people was a huge source of happiness for me too.

And, you’ve done Darlings and Poacher, how much do you relate to comedy? When you choose a project, what is it that you keep in mind that one has to be different from the other?

I look for variety for sure. I like each project to be different, or at least a project that I’m taking up now to be different from what I’ve been working on, in the recent past. I don’t want to repeat. Variety is something that I actively look for in my work.

Other than that, my criteria for selecting projects are pretty random. I mean, like, I pick projects for different reasons, and each project is actually picked for a different set of reasons. Sometimes the people are working on it. Sometimes it’s a character that’s not like anything I’ve played before. Sometimes it’s a story that I believe is important and needs to be told, and I’ll do my part to support it. Comedy is something that I truly enjoy doing.

Most of the films now have become pan Indian films. What do you have to say about cinema changing and language is no more a barrier and it’s like cinema beyond boundaries?

It’s the most exciting change as far as I’m concerned, especially in a country like India where, there’s so many different languages, so many different cultures. We are a polyglot community wherever we go. And I feel like, the more the movies embrace it and the more the boundaries will dissolve, we’ll have more stories to tell and more interesting, original and, realistic and believable ways of telling stories. It’s the most exciting change that I’ve noticed that’s been happening. And I’m personally very drawn to multilingual projects. None of us really go through a day of our life with just one language anymore. So why do our stories have to be restricted to just one language?

You’re there in Ulajh as well. So if you can throw light on what your role is like a little bit, it’s not giving out much about the story.

We’ll be starting our promotions now pretty soon. Until then, I guess there’s only so much that I can say, but it’s been a very exciting project to work on. It’s something that I had a lot of fun shooting, and I feel like that always translates in the film somehow when we had so much fun while making it.

The overall energy of the set was very young, and I really enjoyed it. It’s going to be a fresh, unique film. Well, that’s the feeling that I have. I’m someone not particularly from within Bollywood alone. I have an outsider perspective, I guess. But with whatever perspective I have, my understanding is that this is just going to be, a fresh film, and I’m very, very excited about it.

WATCH the trailer of Roshan Mathew’s Paradise here: 

Lachmi Deb Roy is the entertainment editor of Firtspost, Network18. She reviews films and series with a gender lens. Her interviews are called 'Not Just Bollywood' because she takes huge interest in world cinema. OTT over theatrical releases is her preference unless and until its a King Khan film. She takes interest in fashion, food and art reviews too. see more