My role in 'Barroz' was initially written for a woman: Indo-Nigerian actor Joshua Okesalako

Indo-Nigerian model Joshua Okesalako never expected to play the pivotal role of Muwesi Mariya, an occultist, in Mohanlal's fantasy-thriller 'Barroz'. He was surprised when the 'Barroz' team contacted him, saying Mohanlal wanted him to be part of the movie. Okesalako auditioned for two roles and finally landed the role of Muwesi Mariya, which had originally been written for a woman.

"Mohanlal noticed me on the cover of Vogue India. That's how I got the call. I never expected to be selected for the occultist role, as 10 other female actors had auditioned for the same part. It was a pleasant surprise," he said.

'Barroz' marked Joshua's debut as an actor, but he was happy to find that he could carry off the character with ease. "I'm receiving much love for my role, and I'm grateful. I expected that I might need a lot of retakes, but I only needed a few," he said, adding that the team went out of their way to make him feel comfortable.

Initially, his character had very little screen time, but that changed during the course of the shoot. "I was given nearly 20 lines for each scene. An assistant director would sit with me before the shoot, and we would prepare. It was easy for me to pick up the Malayalam lines since I am half-Indian and linguistically inclined. I was told the dubbing artist had an easy job with my scenes," said Joshua, whose mother is Anglo-Indian and father is from Nigeria.

Playing a black magician is not easy, and Joshua had to watch plenty of movies and series to better understand his character. "I needed to get a handle on my character and understand how they would emote and perform, especially with the hand movements. I found it difficult to come out of character, even a month after my shoot was over, and people around me would find it weird," he said with a laugh.

Joshua addressed the criticism that casting someone with dark skin as an occultist was a form of stereotyping. "I am aware that such criticism has been levelled at the film. However, I choose to see this as an opportunity. Every actor may get stereotyped, but it depends on your attitude. I set aside my ideologies to play this character because I believe it is a personal milestone," he said. Joshua, who lived most of his life in India, began his modelling career 12 years ago. "There have been plenty of ups and downs in my life as a model here. People still have difficulty casting models with dark skin. Pay is also a huge issue for models; hopefully, that scene will change," he said.

Joshua said he had heard about Mohanlal and watched some of his movies with friends when he shifted to Bengaluru in 2019. "I was aware of Mohanlal's acting prowess even before I got a call from the 'Barroz' team. It was indeed pleasant to be part of a film he was in," he said.