Guru Somasundaram is a household name in Kerala post the success of ‘Minnal Murali.’ His screen presence and Tamil-accented Malayalam were widely appreciated by the people of Kerala. He is back with yet another fascinating character after 'Minnal Murali'. In the Tamil web series ‘Meme Boys’ which will be streamed on Sony Liv from July 22nd, he plays a rough and tough college dean. Directed by Arun Kaushik, the film stars '96' fame Aditya Bhaskar, Namrata, Jayanth, Sidharth, Badava Gopi, Lata Venkataraman Sree Ganesh and Nikhil Nair. Guru Somasundaram talks to Manorama online about his latest web series
English dialogues were tough
I am fundamentally a theatre artist. I was part of the theatre group in Chennai called Koothupattarai. I have more experience in theatre. And when there is a challenging character being offered in theatre, I do it. Thanks to the theatre I am able to subtly assimilate such challenging characters. Therefore challenging characters never daunt me.
In ‘Meme Boys' I play the role of a college dean. There are many English dialogues in it and my English diction isn’t great. I finished my diploma and this web series is full of English dialogues. Finally, I had to request the scriptwriter to cut down some of the English dialogues. It is not possible to take risks in that area. All said and done, I belong to Madurai, and I can only speak English with a trace of Madurai accent. So I had to really pressurize them to change some of the English dialogues into Tamil. That was the only challenge for me.
When I team up with the new generation
When I collaborate with new generation actors, I try to think about how they will approach a role, what they are thinking, how they are accessing other people’s performances and how to act with them. I always strive towards improving myself as an actor through such collaborations. I used to conduct acting workshops at Koothupattarai. That way I am also an acting trainer. I have designed 4-5 acting courses for this theatre group.
So I like to work in tandem with my co-actors. Because cinema isn’t a one-man show. Everyone needs to excel in the film to make it work. I always keep that in mind while working in a film and prefer to work closely with my co-actors. '96' film fame Aditya Baskar is playing a great role in this web series. I have done 'Jai Bhim' with Baskar sir. We shared a great friendship. Now I am friends with his son also.
A story that connects with the audience
Today memes have a special place in this world. All are making memes. They are sharing and enjoying these memes. Imagine if someone made a meme about me and I didn’t like it? But that became viral. What will I do? How will I react? A similar incident happens in the college in this web series. I am that college’s dean. Soon memes mocking the dean start getting circulated. It’s about the kind of things the dean does following the incident.
All the characters have their own stories and conflicts in this series. Their issues in life and career are shown. The audience will be able to connect to the life and events in the web series. Adults will think about their college life and the fun they had.
Thought-provoking and fun!
I am extremely grateful to Malayalees for giving me so much love. They have literally adopted me after ‘Minnal Murali.’ My next project is the Tamil web series called ‘Meme Boys which is releasing on Sony Liv. There are many fun and relatable moments in the series. I am hopeful that the audience will love my character in ‘Meme Boys.’ It’s fun, thought-provoking, and entertaining!