Remember the cruel driver of ‘Akashadooth’? NF Varghese learned driving in just a week for the shoot!

Thrissur: “It’s been 36 years since I have been in the police force, Benz. I am bound to have done a few dirty things—some known, some not…”

When this line first from the hit movie ‘Thudarum’ blared through the speaker, people instinctively said—it sounds familiar. The face of ‘George Sir’ matched too. And soon, the dots connected.

Another voice from the past came rushing back: “It’s been 23 years since I left… I’m happy you still remember me sometimes…”

Yes, it was unmistakably NF Varghese’s voice.

As newcomer Prakash Varma stunned audiences with his role in Thudarum, many remarked—this is a role NF Varghese would’ve nailed if he were alive. Like Varma, Varghese too had made a striking entry into Malayalam cinema—emerging from the mimicry stages straight into the heart of villainy.

His true breakthrough came in 1993 with ‘Akashadoothu’, where he played a villain who made Malayalis cry—even as they were handed tissue paper with their movie tickets. Until then, Varghese had only made minor appearances on screen while shining as a mimicry artist with Cochin Kalabhavan.

The turning point came when ‘Akashadoothu’ director Sibi Malayil and screenwriter Dennis Joseph went looking for an unfamiliar face for the role of Keshavan, a morally bankrupt man driving a mini lorry. Dennis Joseph suddenly remembered a face—and more importantly, a voice—that had auditioned multiple times. Sibi Malayil, who had seen Varghese on mimicry stages, was not entirely sure how he would perform as a serious actor. Still, Varghese was called in. Sibi liked what he saw, and he was given an advance.

But the next day, when he was told about the role’s details, Varghese panicked. Most of the scenes involved him driving a vehicle, including one where he attempts to run over Murali’s character. The problem? Varghese didn’t even know how to ride a bicycle properly.

With just a week left before filming began, Varghese enrolled in a local driving school that very night. Desperate, he clung to his instructor’s leg and begged to be trained around the clock. Before the week was out, he drove the training vehicle all the way to Dennis Joseph’s house in Panampilly Nagar—solo.

The moment he reversed the vehicle and drove off, the role was his. When you see Keshavan tearing through the screen in ‘Akashadoothu’, you would never guess the actor learned to drive just days before.

In his own ways, N F Varghese entered Malayalam cinema not just with talent, but with resilience and longing—for recognition, for the right roles and for the chance to bring characters to life that were waiting within him all along.