I was anxious about working with senior co-stars : Sandeep Pradeep

Abhi Chandran is a character that left a mark with audiences of Nithish Sahadev’s directorial debut, Falimy. Sandeep Pradeep, the actor who played Abhi, is understandably excited as he gushes about his character, the second child of a middle-class family who is preparing to leave the country for his studies and has his own share of youthful misadventures. “I don’t share much in common with Abhi, except that we both hang out with friends most of the time, and now that I have friends who are planning to move abroad for studies, I know of those struggles,” says Sandeep.
Sandeep’s career started with short films when he was 15 and he has worked in over 15 short films before making his debut with Pathinettam Padi, and later landing a substantial role in Antakshari. He says Abhi was a character that found him. “Nithish saw me in a short film and cast me for a different project he was planning. It never took off, but after that, we stayed friends. When he planned this film, he told me about the role, and that was that. It’s a role that found me,” he says.

Having worked with senior actors like Jagadeesh, Manju Pillai, Meenaraj Palluruthy, and actor-director Basil Joseph in this film, Sandeep says he was very anxious. “They are all single-take actors, and appoopan (Meenaraj Palluruthy’s role) has decades of experience in theatre. But it worked out, and I was very comfortable with the team,” he says. Sandeep is also hearing more scripts. "I am hearing scripts now. While I am open to doing brother roles again, I want them to have a different shade and depth," he adds.

‘Suffered food poisoning on set’I am a big foodie and an avid traveller. I got to explore a lot as we shot for the film in Jaisalmer, Varanasi and parts of Karnataka apart from Thiruvananthapuram. One of the major challenges was the weather, as it was either extremely cold or hot depending on the time of the day. In Varanasi, I got food poisoning as I went around tasting a variety of foods. Luckily, it didn’t disrupt the shoot.

‘Film Relatable on personal level’
The movie clicked because it’s relatable, and frankly, when we watched it in theatres alongside audiences, some scenes that we didn’t expect to click also worked with the audience. In fact, some of it is very relatable for me, too. During our family trips, my mom would make us eat food that she’d packed from home, and then, someone would come by selling biryani! And my dad used to get down at random stations while travelling.