Sunil Was Shocked When Sukumar Offered ‘Pushpa’

Actor Sunil thanked director Sukumar, who completely changed the course of his career with his role as Mangalam Seenu in Pushpa: The Rise.

Talking about the transformation, Sunil revealed that he approached Sukumar during the lockdown and expressed his desire to explore different kinds of characters beyond comedy.

“During the lockdown, I told Sukumar that I was looking for different roles. Within a few days, he offered me the role of Mangalam Seenu in Pushpa,” said Sunil.

The actor admitted that he was surprised that Sukumar trusted him with a full-fledged negative role after doing a few screen tests.

“He told me to stay away from comedy, especially in this character. He wanted me to express my emotions mainly through body language. I even had to shave my head every day for the role,” Sunil said.

The actor said that Pushpa completely changed his career trajectory and opened the doors of many film industries.

“After Pushpa, my life was full of surprises. I never know what language or what kind of role will come next,” he said with humor.

Sunil recalled an interesting experience during his visit to Kerala after watching Jailer.

“When I went to Kerala after watching Jailer, people gave me stage sheets in Tamil,” he said.

The actor is now entering the Malayalam film industry with Kaatalan, in which he plays an important character named Maari.

“This role gave me great satisfaction. I have never played such a character before. I think I got such opportunities because of Pushpa. It is a very diverse and versatile role,” he added.

Over the last few years, Sunil has successfully expanded his presence beyond Telugu cinema, establishing his presence as a strong character actor in South Indian cinema, sharing screen space with stars like Rajinikanth and Sivakarthikeyan.