Something must have stirred in Anand Manmadhan that day, 15 years ago, as he waited for the second round of an IT job interview in Kochi. He left without attending the interview and walked into a theatre that was screening Traffic (2011), a film that would herald the arrival of a new wave in Malayalam cinema. Sitting before the big screen, Anand felt at home, sensing that he could only belong to this world of cinema, and he’d be happy to be a part of it anyway he can.
It sounds like a sequence from a film that Anand — now recognised as a versatile actor — may star in.
He remains unpredictable — an actor who cannot be pinned down and typecast. He may play a sympathetic elder brother (Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey), an emotional party worker (Ponman) or a thug with a speech disability who loves English romcoms (1744 White Alto).
Anand is that rare breed of a dependable ‘character actor’ that Malayalam cinema was once rich in. In eight years, he has carved a lovely space for himself, without letting go of his passion for cinema that had once made him cut a job interview short.
He speaks to TNM on a Friday afternoon, after his weekly ritual of watching the latest Malayalam film on the big screen. He tries to never miss one, unless there is work.
Anand’s own film was released the Friday before that, a conversational romance called Ithiri Neram. He played a full-fledged role as Chanchal, whom Anand describes as “a choriyan (irritating) character”.
He adds, “I gave an audition for it because they wanted to see if the chemistry between my character and Roshan Mathew’s (the male lead) worked out,” he says. He plays Roshan’s assistant, and his demeanour, while “irritating”, should also be convincing as that of someone that Roshan has authority over.
Both Anand and renowned supporting actor Nandhu received a lot of well-deserved appreciation for Ithiri Neram.
Nandhu is a predecessor of sorts to Anand, in the way he too has tackled unforgettable supporting roles from a young age. Modestly, Anand says that perhaps both their characters worked so well because they are well-versed in the Thiruvananthapuram slang. The film is an ode to Kerala’s capital city, with writers Visakh Sakthi and Prasanth Vijay weaving in cosy spots adored by the average native, from the Public Library to Hotel Taj (which is not the five-star chain but a favoured little restaurant) to rooftops in Statue and the Secretariat road.
“I have played a few characters rooted in Thiruvananthapuram, including my first ever film, Y (2017), which is set in Keston Road. It is not that I don’t fear the stereotyping, but I have been pulled away to Kollam and Pathanamthitta and hopefully will do more dialects in the future,” Anand says, focussed in every way to be versatile.
As someone who watches cinema so keenly, he understands why recognition has come to him a little late. Anand was already five years into cinema before he played Darshana’s brother in Jaya Hey and began to gain recognition.
“That’s the power of a film that does well commercially. But I have done noticeable roles before in films like Y, Himalayathile Kashmalan (2017), Sayanna Varthakal (2022), Saajan Bakery (2021) and Attention, Please (2021). Another role I really liked was the character with a speech disability in 1744 White Alto. Unfortunately that too did not get noticed much,” Anand says.
1744 White Alto, directed by Senna Hegde, has shades of the offbeat that the filmmaker excels in. Without really planning it, quite a few of Anand’s remarkable characters come in films by directors who are more recognised for their art house ventures, like Senna, Prasanth Vijay and Rahul Riji Nair. “It is not purposeful. It just happened like that. In the early days of my career, I was not choosy. I’d do all that came my way. But now I try to choose roles where my character has something to do,” Anand says.
Ponman (2025) is also a favourite of his — a film that gave him satisfaction. It is difficult to forget Bruno, the sensitive and sincere communist who loves his sister but can do little for her. With Basil Joseph leading the film, Anand’s brother-character brings back memories of Jaya Hey.
Anand is attached to and prefers doing what is known as ‘character roles’ in Malayalam cinema, playing a strong supporting character that you can’t help notice. He drops names of many an adored actor who were masters of it in the 1990s, such as Oduvil Unnikrishnan of Sandesham (1991), Thilakan of Godfather (1991), and every “crazy” character of Mookilla Rajyathu (1991).
“Perhaps it is because I first learnt about cinema and fell in love with the art after watching these films and these characters. There have been so many great actors like Nedumudi Venu, Jagathy Sreekumar, Murali and Mamukoya, and …,” Anand’s list goes on.
The kind of reliable sidekick that really lifted movies of the past faded away in later years, he says. Many of them passed away and newer actors who took on the roles pale in comparison. Anand is happy that he joined Malayalam cinema at a time when brave new filmmakers and writers were once again exploring new and untested ground.
“I like character roles more for the range that it allows, and also because I am wary of the pressure that falls on the lead character. But these days, there is such a lot of variety in the lead characters. They can be good or bad or anything in between. I am fortunate to have worked in good films,” Anand says.
Perhaps the only exception was his Hindi outing, Param Sundari (2025), a film that received a lot of flak for its poor representation of Malayalis. But Anand says that it was a good experience for him, learning the differences of filmmaking in two industries.
He’d be happy to take any role in front of the camera or behind it if he could learn something more. Anand has now veered off to theatre, working with the Kanal Samskarika Vedi, and occasionally appears in web series like Love Under Construction (2025), Jai Mahendran (2024) and Masterpeace (2023).
In Sthanarthi Sreekuttan (2024), a critically acclaimed children’s film, Anand became a co-writer along with Murali Krishnan, Kailash and the director Vinesh Viswanath. “It was a very challenging process, developing the story idea into a screenplay, understanding the many technicalities of it. It took us one and a half years. And then another two years to get a release,” Anand recalls.
There was a lot of displeasure when the State Film Awards did not recognise any child actor for their performance this year, including the children in Sthanarthi Sreekuttan. Anand says the jury’s comments that no child delivered an exceptional performance disappointed them more than missing out on an award.
Early months of 2025 for Anand, despite the releases of Ponman and Ithiri Neram, has not been all that busy. But lately he has been darting between multiple sets — Aashakal Ayiram that will bring Jayaram and Kalidas together, another film with Althaf Salim and a small one called Medical Miracle.
There is also an upcoming web series called Eyes by Manu Ashokan, which sort of makes it a circle for Anand. Manu, the director of Uyare (2019), was an associate in Traffic—the film that took Anand away from an IT job all those years ago. That little deviation, and a stint in a newspaper (not as a journalist but a creative executive), convinced Anand that he could not do anything other than cinema. It's a good thing he did not become a journalist and enjoy writing stories, he jokes, or he might have missed out on cinema entirely. No question about that.