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We all know veteran actor Jagathy Sreekumar, known for his improvisation skills, often performed without informing his co-actors or even the director. He has received a lot of praise for this from various colleagues. However, one person has now opposed this notion, believing that this trait is not praiseworthy.
Actor, scriptwriter, producer, and director Lal expressed the opinion that spontaneously changing dialogues or actions during a shoot, without informing others, should not be encouraged. According to him, such unpredictability can negatively affect the performance of co-actors who are expecting something else. While a section of social media has turned against Lal for this statement, watching the full interview makes it clear that he wasn’t trying to attack the comedy icon personally. The topic of Jagathy came up only in the context of a broader discussion about etiquette and discipline on a film set, regardless of one’s talent. Lal also stated that once you commit to a film, you’re obligated to follow the director’s vision, otherwise, you shouldn’t commit to the project in the first place.
Lal, Harisree Ashokan, and Indrans gave an interview to the YouTube channel Saina South Plus as part of the promotional campaign for Season 2 of the web series Kerala Crime Files. During the interview, he shared his views on improvisation in acting. Before Lal addressed Jagathy Sreekumar specifically, Harisree Ashokan had already spoken about the downsides of unplanned improvisation, stating, “If we are improvising a scene, we should always first talk to the director and scriptwriter, and only after taking their opinions into account can we move forward.”
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To support this view, Lal cited the example of Jagathy Sreekumar, saying, “When talking about Ambili Chettan (Jagathy Sreekumar), one of the most talked-about things is that he often makes changes to dialogues unexpectedly, along with certain improvisations that shouldn’t be encouraged. That shouldn’t happen. If it does, the director should intervene and request him to give prior notice before making such changes—or remove that completely. That’s not an achievement; it’s not right, no matter how big of a star they are.”
Lal also pointed out that such spontaneous changes can disrupt the performance of co-stars who come prepared based on rehearsals. In such cases, Jagathy’s success in improvisation might come at the cost of others delivering their best.
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