ente pallii kidikkkiiii kalanjuuu annnaaanOriginally Posted by Laleattan
Santhosh Kottayi
The known is but a drop, the unknown an ocean!
After 7 days and almost a 100 hours journeying with a man who can never be ordinary, an unbelievably amazing human being, one who is unfailingly polite, absolutely caring and surprisingly humble; a man with unmatched energy levels and who is an entertainer 24 x7, a man who never complains or makes a negative comment about anyone or anything, someone who has inimitable wit and can talk with erudition on almost every subject be it art, history, heritage, architecture, science, books, movies, places and anything else you can think of…
It was worse than a desert – unbelievable harsh terrain and relentless heat. On top of it the action scenes were very demanding, the shooting of which started from as early as 7 AM going on till 7 PM or even 3 AM! In his action scenes, he is not just the hero who is performing the stunts, but also a stunt director, cameraman, Director, and even some times the writer itself, when it comes to the conceptualization, planning, performing and capturing the action scenes in the camera!
And when he performs with such energy levels and determination, there was no escape for the dupes or his co-actors, who were inspired to apply themselves too with maximum focus and effort. Even while shooting in such a tough environment, it was amazing to see how caring he was while dealing with his co-stars. The first person to give a hand to the villain while he was kicked down by him in the shot was the star himself after solicitously enquiring whether he was fine! The ultimate moment was during the scene when the professional dupe couldn’t bring out the best landing in a scene leading to the man himself taking on the challenge and performing the scene with such style and accuracy!
There are days, when he went to sleep at 1 AM after blessing all of us with a great evening and then got set for action by 7 AM!
There were days, where he performed action scenes from 7 AM to 7 PM, followed by a 1 hour work out in the gym, another 3-4 hours of partying and then making himself available at 7:00 AM. About him, it can be easily said, that the known is a drop and the unknown a vast ocean!
Before we started this journey called Lailaa O Lailaa, I was also a fan of his great characters and movies. And now I stand as a devotee of Lalettan!!
Special thanks to Vijay Mohan Menon for making this journey happen!
MAMMOOKKA 
