Aju Varghese: My dream is to convincingly play a loud, comic role

Aju Varghese marked his acting debut through Malarvaadi Arts Club in 2010, but even a decade and 108 films later, there is a ‘do I deserve to be here?’ wonder about him. Apart from juggling comic with a couple of serious roles recently, the actor has also ventured into writing and production in the past year.
“The dream was only to be a part of the industry. I wanted to be a writer or director.From the outside, it all looks easy, doesn’t it?” he asks, laughing. But when he got a “lucky break” as an actor, he decided to work on learning and improving his craft. “This is not a work that you can learn from books. You have to keep doing work; only practice makes perfect.”
After the lockdown, Aju was happy to polish up his skills through a short film, and has also shot for Tsunami and Nancy Rani. In fact, he considers every set a learning ground. “I have no background in the arts. I wasn’t even in school or college plays, so each film set helped me develop my grammar. If I did a certain something and the director was happy, it was a new thing I learnt to do,” he says.
Looking back, he feels his most challenging and appreciated roles were in Thattathin Marayathu, Su Su Sudhi Vathmeekam, Kunjiramayanam, Helen and Kamala, when he felt he was being called to stretch himself. “Two Countries was also a demanding role, because Dileepettan has great comic timing and I was conscious throughout the shoot, whether I’d be able to match up to him. Of course, I didn’t voice out the insecurity then,” he says, in his typically comic way.
Will he venture into direction soon? “I feel dazed when I think about it. I ask friends like Basil Joseph and Arun Chandu, who is directing Saajan Bakery Since 1962, to tell me about how they bring a project to fruition. They make it sound simple, but to me the process seems insurmountable. That said, yes, I want to direct and I want to make a movie that will be a labour of love for viewers, rather than just to satisfy myself,” he says.
Saajan Bakery, which he has co-written, acted in and produced, is one such film that tells a sweet, transformative story, and he is ready to screen it as soon as theatres reopen. “I am ready to be the first to take the plunge. Hopefully, it will give others the confidence to do the same,” he says.
But Aju speaks with a surprising gaucheness even when he is asked ‘what next?’ as an actor. “I am not an actor with great confidence; I still wonder if I fit in. So, I am comfortable playing the everyday people we meet, like a tea stall guy, driver or doctor, who have reference points. But I want to be able to confidently do a loud, out-of-the-mould character; someone we don’t see regularly, but someone that audiences will say, ‘wow, he did that well’. My desire is to get a role like that,” he says.