‘Jameelante Poovan Kozhi’ actor Nitin Thomas says his passion for films has paid off

Nitin Thomas stars in Malayalam film Jameelante Poovan Kozhi, marking a breakthrough in his acting career after years of perseverance.

The Malayalam movie Jameelante Poovan Kozhi is an important film for actor Nitin Thomas. After more than 10 years as an actor, trying to get that break, he landed this full-length role. “It is a negative role, in which my character, a cop, is at loggerheads with the main character (Mithun Nalini) and what transpires after that is what the movie is about,” he says. The others in the film headlined by Bindu Panicker are Anjana Appukuttan, Alisha George and Sooraj Pops.  

Nitin confesses he has been driven by a passion for acting and cinema, something that did not let him quit despite not getting the lucky break. The 35-year-old’s experience is proof that patience is, usually, rewarded. The animation and VFX professional graduated in 2009 after which he began auditioning for films. 

His first film was Little Master, “a negative role again but a small one with a few dialogues. I also did Tamil films, my first one was Nishabdam in 2017. Another Tamil film I acted in was Doodi.” He was also working with a magazine as a UX designer. Even as he was waiting for the roles to come in, he wrote scripts for short films, directed and even acted in a few. Although his were not full-length roles, he was part of films such as Christopher, Aaha and Thundu. 

As a participant in a short film competition organised by the Kochi Metro Rail in association with AMMA in 2023, his film, The Metro Boy, a heart-warming story about a young boy’s (street vendor) first ride in the Metro, was awarded the third prize.

Nitin is excited about the break he has landed. “The film is located in Fort Kochi and the action takes place there. The experience was great and the feedback has also been encouraging.” Since it was released around the time as films such as Sookshmadarshini and Hello Mummy, it has, however, not garnered as much attention.

Nitin heard of the role through a friend, who is the film’s project designer. At the time he was working at a Chennai-based firm, 24 Am Studios, which digitally promotes films. He came to Kochi and met the director Shajaan and was signed on following a screen test.  Now that Jameelante Poovan Kozhi is done he is preparing for his next film and he has also scripted a film which he hopes to direct soon.