Interview | Actor Renjit Shekar: I don’t mind asking for a role

A breakout role is not easy to come by in films, and Renjit Shekar knows it. Therefore the success of the second season of the web series, Kerala Crime Files, means the world to the 36-year-old actor. In the series he plays civil police officer (CPO) police officer Praveen Chandran, who is part of a team investigating a missing fellow police officer and an ex-convict.

Renjit says this is the first time that he got so many calls appreciating his work since he had his debut with Ottamurivelicham in 2017. “It has been the most noticed role of my career till now and it means a lot.”

The actor adds that the celebration of the success of the series held recently was a momentous occasion, especially with the presence of filmmaker Premkumar. “He enjoyed the series so much that he had called our director [Ahammed Khabeer]. Screening the show in Tamil Nadu, perhaps a first for a Malayalam web series, was equally exciting.”

He is one among several engineer-turned-actors in Malayalam cinema. The Thiruvananthapuram-native, who worked with companies such as NeST and Infosys, says he has been a film buff since his student days and used to shoot visuals on his handycam while pursuing his engineering. “I wanted to get into movies but had no clue how to go about it. There weren’t many auditions happening back then.”

The turning point was meeting Rahul Riji Nair, his colleague at NesT. “We had the same dreams. That eventually led to him directing Ottamurivelicham that bagged four Kerala State film awards.”

Renjit went on act in Rahul’s Dakini and Kho-Kho. “The role in Kho-Kho (as the affable peon Sivaprasad) got me some attention, followed by my character in Geethu Unchained, one of the stories in the anthology, Freedom Fight. A scene in the latter, the one where Rajisha Vijayan swears at me, even became fodder for memes!”

Rahul also cast him as the villain in Keedam, starring Rajisha. “That was a challenging role. Many people told me that they did not recognise me in that character.”

Cop act

Renjit says it is sheer coincidence that he got three cop roles back to back — Thalavan, KCF and Flask. “The characters are totally different from each other. The cop in Thalavan is the boy-next-door who admires Asif Ali’s character, KCF’s Praveen is efficient but blunt and the character in Flask is wily and sly.”

Renjit stresses the OTT revolution has helped his career in a big way. “Thanks to these platforms, people from other languages have seen my work. I once got a call from Lokesh Kanagaraj’s assistant. He saw Kho-Kho on OTT and wanted to talk about it. It feels great when our films cross borders. Now I have friends and acquaintance in other film industries as well.”

He adds web series gives an actor more scope to perform. “I can add more layers to a character, which is not possible in films. In KCF there is a scene where I chat with my screen father. Actually that part does not contribute to the storyline at all. When I asked AK (director Ahammed Kabeer) about it, he said the scene would help to register my character a little more. He was right because those who called me mentioned that scene.”

KCF is Renjit’s 15th project and he admits that one has to always be raring to go to succeed in cinema. “There are instances when you lose hope. This field is like that. I need the industry but the industry does not need me. So I should always be ready for the race. Rejection is part of the game. Putting in the hard work is important.”

Renjit admits he is hesitant to promote himself and would rather let his work talk for him. “I tell people to watch my work and then call me for audition. I am comfortable that way. I don’t mind asking for a role in films. That is my job and I don’t feel shy about it. However, I am not that keen on promoting myself on social media or other platforms.”

Looking ahead, Renjit is thrilled about his next project, which is with the director-writer combo of Dinjith Ayyathan-Bahul Ramesh who made Kishkindha Kaandam, one of the acclaimed movies of 2024. “Bahul is the writer of KCF and it was he who called me for the film. I am not allowed to say anything about the movie. But I am excited about it.”

Kerala Crime Files Season 2 is streaming on JioHotstar.