Interview | Actor Aju Varghese: The success of ‘Gaganachari’ has been overwhelming

Aju Varghese on the success of the sci-fi Malayalam mockumentary film Gaganachari and his new projects including those in Tamil

It has been a dream run at the box office for Gaganachari, a hilarious sci-fi mockumentary by Arun Chandu. Aju Varghese, who plays a key role in the movie set against a post-apocalyptic Kerala ravaged by floods and threatened by alien attack, says the appreciation was unexpected. “It has been overwhelming. We are thrilled that the film has been released across India,” says Aju.

Gaganachari, set in Kerala in 2043, is centred around Victor Vasudevan Valaparambil (a brilliant KB Ganesh Kumar), an ex-military officer and an alien hunter, and his two goofball sidekicks and companions, Allan Jose Valaparambil (Gokul Suresh) and Vaibhav Vydyanathan a.k.a. Vibe (Aju) who live in a bunker. Their lives turn upside down when an alien (Anarkali Marikar) ends up staying with them. Aju is in his element as Vaibhav, a ladies’ man and former social media influencer, who is struggling to find an identity after the ban on the Internet. He is now Victor’s cook and the one who accidentally brings home the alien.

Aju says that it was during the post-production days of Saajan Bakery, Arun’s second film, that the latter told him the story. “[Arun] Chandu comes up with whacky, crazy themes because of his exposure to world cinema. However, I wasn’t sure if people would understand the concept of a mockumentary. But the audience proved me wrong. Fahadh Faasil had said in an interview that we can experiment with anything in Malayalam cinema for the next five years. When a brilliant actor and producer like him makes such an observation, it can’t be taken lightly. I think Chandu was buoyed by those words and got the confidence to go ahead and release it,” Aju says.

In one of his interviews, Arun pointed out that initially the movie had a dark theme and it was Aju who suggested a change. “It was a tough time for all of us because of the pandemic. That’s why I asked him whether we should add to the already depressing situation,” Aju recalls. So they toyed with different crazy situations, one of them was about giving a twist to the evergreen film Kilukkam, starring Mohanlal, Revathy and Jagathy Sreekumar. “We wondered what if Revathy chechi‘s character is an alien!” Aju says. Evenstually, they came out with a funny yet clever narrative packed with crazy situations and dialogues.

The actor mentions that Ganesh was Arun’s first choice for Victor. “We both love him as an actor and had a great time working with him in Saajan Bakery. His potential as an actor has not been explored. His Pathanapuram dialect and the ease with which he delivers dialogues are delightful. Sarcasm, humour, intensity - he communicates everything in that,” Aju adds. Gokul, who worked in Arun’s first movie, Sayahna Varthakal, was a natural choice to play Allan.

Aju also makes note of two characters who made a mark with their voices. Mallika Sukumaran, the voice of the alien, and dubbing artist Abraham Joseph as the AI, Raghavan. “In Mallikamma’s case, we needed a voice that sounded aged since the alien is pretty old; at the same time, it had to be a popular voice that could evoke laughter. For Raghavan’s voice, Chandu wanted Nedumudi Venu chettan. Unfortunately he passed away and we had to look for other options,” he adds.

However, he was not sure whether he could do justice to Vaibhav. “By that time I had done films such as Minnal Murali, Meppadiyan etc. I was no longer the age of Vaibhav; my mindset had changed. I had put on weight. I had unlearned and learned a lot as an actor by then. But I had to wear funky dresses and recreate some of my happy-go-lucky characters. I even asked Chandu if he could make Vaibhav an aged character. He convinced me to do the role and insisted that I lose weight. I surrendered to his conviction and confidence. He knows my journey and has also directed me in two movies. So he knows how to extract a performance from me,” Aju points out.