The world in its entirety appears bizarre and it even seems futile to make any attempt to make sense of things around. Cinema, the mirror to the world, too promptly reflects this senselessness. "Sensible films are few and far in number today and senseless films are more these days. I am a part of and parcel of both," candidly admits Malayalam actor Jagathi Sreekumar, a veteran of over 1,200 films.

In a sense, Jagathi's roles too hold a mirror to the world's ways that defy reason. His role of a beggar who makes it rich through begging in Theeram Thedunna Thira is a case in point. So is his role of a four-year-old locked up in the body of a mentally-challenged adult in Pidakozhi Koovunna Nootandu.

Son of well-known playwright Jagathi N K Achari, it was not long before Jagathi took to the stage and soon graduated onto the big screen with Chattambi Kalyani. His forte of hyperbole soon put him on path to fame.

After 30 years in tinsel town, Jagathi knows he has become repetitive and monotonous. "I am not choosy when it comes to roles, they may be rubbish yet I take them up because ultimately it's the question of one's livelihood. I grab the available chance and make the best of it. You could call me a little greedy," he laughs.

He tries to get deeply involved with every character he dons. "If I want my audience to feel what I feel then there has to be emotion and sentiment. Acting is all about transferring of emotion."

But Jagathi does his best to add that extra zing to his roles. "I try to lend a twist to the repetitive roles by way of exaggerated mannerisms," he says and adds, “while serious roles need thinking and intelligence, humour comes easily to me."

Jagathi says that comedians are brought in only to break the monotony, sometimes they seem out of place. "I don't agree with that kind of fitting for the sake of it," says he.

According to Jagathi, some of the best movies were made in the 1970s and 90s because they were being made from novels. But nowadays, he regrets, films are made according to the charisma of each star. "The movie is now made for the star and sometimes the stars are forcibly fit into roles like thrusting a pillow into a cover that just doesn't fit at all."

Jagathi too tried his hand at directing. But he admits he was a failure. "You need patience, certain seriousness. I don't have both," he says.

Now steering the Kalanilayam Drama Vision with over 100 artistes, Jagathi says theatre and the big screen are different ball games altogether. While on stage you need a sharp memory, intelligence and presence of mind and can't afford to make mistakes. On the sets, however, there are retakes, he concludes.