Guru Somasundaram on ‘Minnal Murali’: I wasn’t prepared for this level of adulation

In conversation with Guru Somasundaram, who has been getting rave reviews for his portrayal of a ‘soft’ villain in Basil Joseph’s superhero movie, ‘Minnal Murali’

“After Minnal Murali’s premiere, someone in the audience walked up to me and asked, ‘Can I hug you?’.” Guru Somasundaram breaks into a laugh remembering the incident. Life has changed overnight for him after the film dropped on Netflix on Christmas eve. His nuanced performance as the antagonist has been widely appreciated by critics and audiences alike.

There is a child-like joy in Guru as he talks about the movie. “I generally don’t watch my movies. In fact, I rarely check the monitor after giving a shot. But when I started working on Minnal Murali, I felt it was going to be special. So I watched it with the whole team before the premiere and I was shocked. It was as if I had been struck by lightning, just like my character in the movie,” he laughs.

The film, set in a village called Kurukkammoola, revolves around two men — Jaison (Tovino) and Shibu (Guru), who are struck by lightning on the same night. Both gain superpowers and circumstances pit them against each other.