Gifted Alencier Ley Lopez, winner of Kerala State Film award for the best character actor, has made himself an indispensable part of Malayalam cinema today

Puthenthope, a coastal village in Thiruvananthapuram, is in a celebratory mood. Alencier Ley Lopez, who hails from there, is the hero of the moment after he bagged the Kerala State Film Award for the best character actor.

A veteran theatre activist and actor, Alencier agrees he is a happy man. However, in the next breath, he adds that he is disappointed that Fahadh Faasil did not find a place in the film awards this year. “I am extremely happy that Indrans chettan has been given the award for the best actor. I feel he should have been given this award a long time ago. Nevertheless, even if it is late, it is a well-deserved award for Indrans chettan. I understand that each jury would have their reasons for selecting a particular person for an award. Another jury might have selected a completely different list. Yet, I had hoped that Fahadh would win an award. I feel he is one of the best actors we have now in India,” says Alencier.

The burly actor won it for his memorable role of ACP Chandran in the film Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum directed by Dileesh Pothan. He recalls that he was not quite excited when Dileesh cast him in the role of the policeman because “I had already acted as a policeman in Rajeev Ravi’s Annayum Rasoolum and Njan Steve Lopez. I was worried I would have bits and pieces of those policeman in Chandran as well. So after each shot, I would ask Rajeev (who was the cinematographer of Thondimuthalum...) how much of both the previous policemen were in Chandran,” guffaws the actor. Till a few scenes were canned, Rajeev would keep saying that he could see traces of both. But after a crucial scene in which Chandran persuades the complainant to change their account of the incident, Rajeev remarked that he had truly become Chandran.

As he points out with glee, in many of the scenes shot in a police station, he and Fahadh were the only ones who were “acting” as the rest of the policemen were policemen in real life too. He adds that the policemen acting in the film helped him a lot to fine-tune nuances, procedures and Chandran’s language.

Unforgettable characters

The extremely talented actor’s star has been on the ascendant since his unforgettable characters in Rajeev’s films. It is a second innings for Alencier who was first seen on the big screen in Venu’s Daya.

Although he made a mark in several art-house movies, he could not break into tinsel town. However, Rajeev gave him meaty roles in his films and Alencier proved his versatility. Since then, Alencier has made the most of it, whether it be a potboiler like Kasaba or forgettable flicks like Thoppil Joppan and Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol.

His fine acts in several films had his fans wondering when he would finally clinch the award and so when it did happen, it did not really come as a surprise to them.

“I have been lucky to get so many interesting roles and so I did not really think of an award. What is pleasing is that so many people from theatre have made a mark this year.”

Groomed by theatre veterans and activists such as Natakayogam Raghu, C.P. Krishnakumar and Kavalam Narayana Panicker in Sopanam, Alencier says it was the late Raghu who demonstrated the versatility of an actor’s body and how one man and his imagination could come up with powerful acts. “His histrionics showed me how an actor’s body is enough to play any role of theme. It was the many theatre troupes I worked with that has chiselled and shaped the actor in me,” he says.

One-act plays

Perhaps that is why Alencier has never been able to keep away from putting up impromptu one-act plays to react to issues that have rocked the state. “I am an actor and the medium should not be an issue for an actor. His job is to act and react,” he insists.

He points that since he has been trained in cinema by art-house auteur M.P. Sukumaran Nair, he does not believe in loud emotions or acting. “An actor should have self-control. He should know exactly how much of any emotion to infuse into a character and when. That is my school of thought. An actor should be able to experience the character,” feels Alencier.

Favourite actors

A great admirer of Bharat Gopy and Nedumudi Venu, he considers himself lucky that he got the chance to interact with them while working in Sopanam. But, in his opinion, Sathyan was the greatest actor ever and he regrets not having got a chance to ever meet him in person. “I also wish I had had an opportunity to work with (directors) Bharathan and Padmarajan. However, that was not to be....”

Unwilling to dwell on the past, Alencier is making the most of his second lease of life in cinema and at present, he is on a roll with characters in Mridul Nair’s B.Tech, Madhupal’s Oru Kuprasidha Payyan, T.K. Rajeevkumar’s latest, Kolambi, and Parole among others. Let the good times roll!