‘Never chased recognition; Mohanlal deserved Phalke much earlier,’ feels Vijayaraghavan ahead of National Film Award

New Delhi: Actor Vijayaraghavan, recipient of the 2023 National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor, said he had never waited for awards and considers the preparation for his roles a pleasure, not a sacrifice. Speaking to Mathrubhumi News in Delhi, he expressed that Mohanlal is fully deserving of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

“In my long career, this is the first award I have received, and I never waited for it. In my early days, I did hope for awards for certain roles. People would tell me, ‘You will get an award for this role.’ Once I was told that I got selected for an award, but it did not happen. After that, I stopped expecting awards,” Vijayaraghavan said.

Discussing his role as Ittoop in ‘Pookkaalam’, for which he won the award, he added, “The preparation for a character is never a sacrifice. It’s enjoyable. Sitting for three to three and a half hours for makeup was fascinating for me. I had to lose weight to make the age believable. I didn’t take on any other films for one or two months.”

Reflecting on Mohanlal receiving the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Vijayaraghavan said, “To receive an award for lifetime contribution is a great fortune for anyone. Mohanlal is 100 percent deserving; there’s no surprise there. I feel he could have received it even earlier.”

The awards ceremony will be held at Vigyan Bhavan on Tuesday at 4 pm, with President Droupadi Murmu presenting the honours. Malayali talents being recognised include Vijayaraghavan (Best Supporting Actor), Urvashi (Best Supporting Actress), director Christo Tommy (Best Malayalam Film Director), production designer Mohan Das, editor Mithun Murali, non-feature film director M K Ramdas, sound designers Sachin Sudhakaran and Hariharan Muraleedharan.