‘Success brings praise, downfall makes them point fingers’: Jayaram on fame’s dark side

Thiruvananthapuram: Veteran Malayalam actor Jayaram has spoken with rare honesty about the emotional cost of fame, revealing how professional downfall and public rejection reshaped his life and career over nearly four decades in cinema.

In a Tamil podcast hosted by Gobinath, the actor said his journey was never a smooth upward climb but a repeated cycle of success, failure and reinvention. “After two or three successful films, there would be two or three failures. Then I would struggle again to rise. This pattern has continued for 38 years,” he said, adding that most leading actors endure similar turbulence behind the scenes.

Jayaram recalled that his entry into films was almost effortless. Legendary filmmaker Padmarajan cast him directly as a hero after watching a mimicry cassette Jayaram had recorded in the Gulf that went viral. His debut film Aparan became a hit, followed by nearly two decades of dominance in family-oriented cinema, with frequent collaborations with directors such as Sathyan Anthikad, Sibi Malayil, I.V. Sasi and Rajasenan.

But the actor said the same industry that once celebrated him later turned distant. “The take-off to fame was unbelievable. I acted as the lead in 15 Sathyan Anthikad films and over 10 films with other senior directors. They kept repeating me,” he said. “Then setbacks followed. I fell hard and had to struggle immensely to rise again. Many people gave up on me during that phase.”

What hurt most, Jayaram said, was not the loss of roles but the shift in how people viewed him. “When you are in your successful period, everyone praises you. But when you see a downfall, people point out every small detail that makes you suddenly feel everything is wrong. That phase became my biggest learning period,” he said.

Despite the setbacks, Jayaram rebuilt his career and continues to work across Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu cinema, choosing roles driven by content rather than stardom.

On the work front, he will next be seen in Ashakal Aayiram, directed by G Prajith, with his son Kalidas Jayaram playing a key role. The film’s creative director is Jude Anthany Joseph, with a screenplay by Aravind Rajendran and Jude Anthany Joseph. Produced by Gokulam Gopalan and Krishnamoorthy under Sree Gokulam Movies, the film is slated for a theatrical release on February 6.