Jinu Joseph – Malayalam film actor best known for his roles in ‘Iyobinte Pusthakam’ and ‘Anjaam Pathiraa’

Jinu Joseph is a popular actor of Malayalam screen best known for his character roles. He plays both positive and negative roles on screen. Some of his popular roles are Rani Padmini, Iyobinte Pusthakam, North 24 Kaatham, Varathan, Virus, Anjaam Pathiraa etc. His most recent full-length role as ACP Anil Madhavan in the 2020 investigation thriller, Anjaam Pathiraa was well received. His first acting role was given by Amal Neerad for his debut movie Big B, and later gave him the big break through Iyobinte Pusthakam. Though he is a businessman, he is more focused on films, and loves acting more.

He was into family business during early days

Jinu Joseph was born in 1975 in Kochi, Kerala. He was more interested in sports than films during his school days. Later he joined his family business in electrical field, and also settled with his family in Kochi. Before he joined films he used to sit in the electrical shop occasionally during vacation, and later decided to do MBA in UK. For some reason it didn’t happen and joined an ad agency in Bangalore. Again he returned to family business. He even spent 5 years in Pune and started textile business. Then he moved to Dubai and spent two years there. Now he owns a business firm in Dubai related to ad field. Thus he dabbled with different jobs for many years, mostly related to business.

Amal Neerad’s Big B gave him the first film break in 2007

His entry to films was just co-incidence. He went to meet his school friend Vinayakan at Fort Kochi while shooting of Mammootty starrer Big B was going on. Amal Neerad, the director of the film offered him the brief role of a white-collar killer in the movie. Without any previous acting experience he noded ‘Yes’ for 10 day shooting. He played the professional killer who kills Nafisa Ali’s character, and later killed by Mammootty.

It was during his days in Dubai when Big B happened. He got bitten by the acting bug very soon, and he landed into film roles soon. Initially he was very much scared of camera. Chappa Kurusu, Sagar Alias Jackie, Anwar, Kerala Café etc are some of his early roles. He started with small roles, and later full length roles came his way. Yet it took a few years to slowly gain foot in the industry. He was seen in 2022 Mammootty blockbuster, Bheeshma Parvam, directed by Amal Neerad.

Jinu Joseph – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. Actor Vinayakan and Jinu are childhood friends. Later the actor became instrumental in his film entry.

2. Though he did some noted roles in the early phase of his career his roles went unnoticed. So he desired that at least audience should at least identify him through his film roles. That’s one major reason why he stayed in the industry.

3. In 2016 he was arrested at Abu Dhabi airport when the actor tried to record an incident portraying the poor service of Eithad Airways. The staff even tried to manhandle him. He was later released after a few hours.

4. He is known for different and stylish looks in different movies, based on the character he plays on screen. In real life too he tries different looks when gets bored in a particular style. Once he went bald head.

5. He has stage fear since early days, and feels tensed while addressing a crowd in an interview or public stage meeting. Basically he is a shy person. Over the years he slowly overcame it. He even attended acting workshops, which helped him a lot in gaining confidence.

6. He is a nature lover. Wild life and forest are also his passions, next to films. He often goes for adventurous trips in forests along with friends or wife.

7. His wife is Lia Samuel. Her passion is to become a film director, and has also done a filmmaking course from New York Academy, New York. She is currently writing a script.