I get into the skin of the character which helps me deliver a more credible performance: Karunakaran

“Luckily, I have landed such films. If you take a look at my current line-up, I have films with interesting concepts. Maanadu is a time loop genre and Enemy is a stylish action thriller in which I play Vishal’s friend. The majority of the story in Enemy takes place abroad and I play an interesting role in it. Also, I am debuting in Malayalam with Kalidas Jayaram and Namitha Pramod. It is a thriller with an intriguing story. I also have Mohandas and Indru Netru Naalai 2 with Vishnu Vishal. Each one of these films and my character is quite different from one another. I am looking forward to Ayalaan as it is one of the biggest Indian films ever made,” he begins.

Karunakaran will be seen sharing screen space with Vijay Sethupathi yet again in Thuglaq Darbar. “I would say that my role in Thuglaq Darbar was a challenging one. Vijay Sethupathi saw my portions while he was dubbing for the film and told me that he liked my work,” Karunakaran opens up.

From playing one of the lead roles in Soodhu Kavvum to a character with a grey shade in Vikram’s Iru Mugan, Karunakaran has struck a fine balance in taking up different roles. “When I revisited these roles on television or OTT platforms, I liked them. That is also how I listen to the stories. As an audience, if you or even I liked my characters from my previous films, then I believe I have worked to my conviction. I don’t plan anything as such. If I like a character that is offered to me during narration, I take it up. Moreover, with COVID-19 the future is uncertain across industries,” he adds.

Karunakaran will be playing one of the leads in Pannikutty alongside Yogi Babu. “Pannikutty has come out well — it revolves around an interesting character and is set in the backdrop of Madurai,” the actor says. Karunakaran, who carries his roles with ease says that it takes time for him to get into the skin of the character. “Sometimes, it takes a day or two to understand what my character goes through in the story. It is about how much I understand my character as well as how the director has envisioned it. Having seen me delivering dialogues with subtlety, the audience would see me in a different trajectory in an upcoming Radha Mohan film,” he concludes.