One of Indian cinema’s most exciting young actors, Roshan Mathew gets over five hours to showcase his range in Kankhajura. In the upcoming Sony LIV series, 33-year-old Mathew plays Ashu, who dangerously burrows centipede-like through the minds of various characters in order to protect his brother Max (Mohit Raina).
Kankhajura, which will be out on May 30, is a remake of the Israeli show Magpie. The cast includes Sarah Jane Dias, Mahesh Shetty, Usha Nadkarni, Trinetra Haldar and Ninad Kamat. Co-written and directed by Chandan Arora, the Hindi series has been shot by Rajeev Ravi, whose wife Geethu Mohandas directed Mathew in his breakthrough film Moothon (2019).
Mathew, who speaks both Malayalam and Hindi, has been in several noteworthy projects since Moothon, including Kappela (2020), C U Soon (2020), Darlings (2022), Poacher and Paradise (2023). “Moothon was the film that showed me that there is more than I am capable of, and that for me will always remain the biggest milestone,” Mathew told Scroll in an interview.
Who is Ashu from Kankhajura?
A really naive person, but don’t take him lightly. Just be slightly on your guard around him and don’t treat him like he’s stupid.
How do you build such a complex character inside out?
The possibilities are endless. You can play any scene, any situation anyway. You can use your body in any manner that you want to. Everything is there to be discovered. There are no rules because we don’t see people like Ashu being portrayed on screen very often.
My process was to go to the core of the character. What is driving him? That is his love for his brother – such a strong emotion that it’s all you need as your departure point.
What notes did you get from director Chandan Arora?
We didn’t discuss much before the shoot. He was very keen to see what my approach would be, and I was very keen to see how he was going to work with the character. It was after shooting began that I started jamming with Chandan sir. He came in with his own developed, evolved understanding of Ashu.
There were many scenes where halfway through shooting, Chandan sir would ask me to consider playing Ashu in a different way. He would give me a pointer, and that was exciting because it wasn’t any of the possibilities that I saw in my head. It was a lot to do with being in the moment.
Do you have an affinity towards thrillers and black comedies? While in college, you had produced a stage adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope. You have also directed the dark comedy play A Very Normal Family.
I definitely enjoy watching these genres, and I absolutely love dark comedies. Efforts to create those and be part of such projects will always be a part of me.
I particularly like the films and plays of Martin McDonagh. His writing is dark, eerie and witty. I love his play The Pillowman, in particular. I would also like to recommend the fabulous Malayalam crime Aarkkariyam, directed by Sanu John Varghese.
Your performance in Prasanna Vithanage’s Paradise was superb.
Prasanna sir is one of the best directors I have had the opportunity to work with. He’s also one of the most experienced directors. He’s evolved so much with each step that he has taken. He’s currently at a point where his art is at its most powerful, most minimalistic.
Everything in Paradise is about minimalism. Almost each thing that appears is a symbol. Your performance has to embody that. I had to find the most minimal way of putting a particular thing across.
This is something that no other director until then had pushed me towards. This isn’t anything that Prasanna sir asked for in words. It’s what you automatically start doing as you try to fit into the process, which is what I value the most from the Paradise experience.
