One of the most prominent actors of Malayalam cinema today and known for picking clutter-breaking roles, Tovino Thomas has carved a space for himself. Basil Joseph’s breakout superhero film Minnal Murali (2021), starring Tovino, won him praise and recognition beyond South cinema. He was also widely appreciated for his performances in Ennu Ninte Moideen, 2018 and Anweshippin Kandethum, to name a few.

The actor, who was briefly in Mumbai for the promotion of his upcoming film Ajayante Randam Moshanam (ARM), spoke his heart out on a number of topics, including Bollywood, social media frenzy, women’s safety, especially in the wake of Hema Committee report and more. Excerpts...

I’m surrounded by some good people, and I have good friends. Your thinking doesn’t evolve on its own, it comes from the outside. It comes from the company you keep. It comes from your family, your friends and the people you work with. I don’t give myself credit for that. As a small part of society, you should be socially aware. You cannot be blind to issues which need to be addressed.

There are solid actors in Bollywood who are already doing a good job. Shah Rukh Khan sir, Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Rajkummar Rao, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vicky Kaushal, I love watching their work. I don’t see a point of me doing a Bollywood movie until and unless it’s a Malayali character so that I can speak Hindi with a Malayalam accent. Also, Malayalam cinema’s working style is a bit different. We start a movie, and we try to finish it in one stretch. Other industries might split it into different schedules. I’m not talking about every Hindi movie. There are filmmakers here who finish movies in a few days, too. I spoke to Anurag Kashyap sir, and I know how he does it. But if I’m committing to a movie from another industry, I must put in extra effort because it’s a language that I don’t have command over. That requires more time which might affect the movies which I’m doing back in Kerala. So, I’m trying to make movies which appeal to everyone. I’m sitting with you and talking about ARM which we shot in Malayalam. We have dubbed it in Hindi also. We are expecting Hindi speaking audiences to watch the movie in their own language without concentrating on the subtitles. I don’t think it’s necessary for me to come and act here (in Bollywood). But I can bring my movies here. That’s almost the same. We have brilliant actors in every industry in India. I don’t find it fascinating…. a Malayali actor coming to Bollywood, doing a movie here. If the character is a Malayali, I understand. I’ll come and do it for sure. I watch Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, English, Spanish and Japanese cinema. For me, the content has to strike a chord.

I have never felt that paparazzi culture here because I am not very well known in Mumbai. In fact, it’s one of the places where I can go out, be myself and walk around. We live in a digital age where everything is being documented. You are being watched all the time and I don’t know if it’s a good thing. You need to have your privacy and a little space. If you are an actor, you understand that you are a public figure and this is part of your life, but when you go out with your family, they deserve to live a happy, peaceful life. They don’t have to go through that. It will be great if they are left alone. I use social media for promoting my movies. I get this dopamine high, but I don’t depend on it much. I don’t think social media validation is actual validation. We are living in a time where reach (social media) matters more than talent. That’s sad, but true.

This needs a deeper conversation. I haven’t read the Hema committee report, but I saw the highlights on news channels. As far as sexual harassment is concerned, if somebody has done something that's terribly wrong against anyone, forget the gender, they should get the deserved punishment. They should be punished under the law. I don’t want to be misinterpreted here but they are saying the industry is male-dominated and they're complaining about it to the male-dominated society. What do you expect? It's not just the industry. Society has to change. Our patriarchal mindset has to change.

However, as far as inequality is concerned, there were actresses who got paid more than I did when I started off. Cinema is a business, and your value depends on the value that you add to the movie. This comes from your power to pull the audience to the theatre. But there needs to be a zero tolerance policy as far as lack of safety is concerned. It's a basic thing. I don't even have to say that. I understand whatever happened in Kolkata and all. We are heartbroken, we are angry. Even reading the news has been disturbing. Rapists are psychopaths. They are mentally ill. They don't deserve to live a life among people. They should be given maximum punishments. I don't even want to put up a post. I mean, if I put up a post, I'll get clapped. Nothing is going to change. I don't know what needs to be done. Do the laws need to change? I think there should be proper education in schools. Have we forgotten how to respect another human being? You learn and become a doctor or an engineer but it's more important to become a better human being when you are living in a society.