Vijayan Karanthoor – Character artist of Malayalam cinema

Vijayan Karanthoor is a well-known character artist of Malayalam cinema. He mostly portrays brief but memorable roles on Malayalam screen. Anyar in 2003 is his debut flick. As an actor he got major break through 2013 release ‘Crocodile Love Story’ where he played Manikuttan’s uncle. Shutter, Ennu Ninte Moideen, Kismath, Naran, Rasathantram, Iyobinte Pusthakam, Guppy etc are a few more notable roles he played on screen. Among his TV roles, his character Shoolapani in Sthreedhanam daily soap got noticed.

Vijayan Karanthoor hails from Karanthoor of Kozhikode. He has been associated with school dramas and has also done female part. While doing his graduation at Government Arts College, Kozhikode, he continued with his stage plays. He initially decided to send application to NSD as employment problem was serious those days, and a diploma at NSD almost assured a job in Doordarshan or AIR. But as insisted by film actor Murali Menon, he sent his application to Thrissur School of Drama and got selected. He had a deep experience in theatre during his days at Thrissur, and also worked with many renowned artists.

He conducted theatre workshops in different parts of Kozhikode those days along with a group of friends, and also got opportunity to play brief roles in Madhumohan serials. He got a brief role in 2003 movie, Anyar and since then played numerous character roles on screen. As he couldn’t get a major break on big screen, he continued with his theatre in Kozhikode. His role in Malayalam movie, Black (2005) got noticed and from there on he got handful of offers from Malayalam cinema. He is married and has one daughter.

Vijayan Karanthoor – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. He played lead role in a less-known Malayalam film, Athmeeyam, directed by Nandan Kovil.

2. As a stage actor, he has worked in different theatre groups such as Malabar Theatre, Chiranthana and Khan Kovil Nilayam in Kozhikode in mid-2000s, when he got only less film opportunities.

3. He has done big and small roles in around 135 Malayalam films since 2003. Around 10 of those movies got shelved.