Vinay Forrt – Malayalam film actor best known for his iconic role of Vimal ‘Java’ Sir in Premam

Vinay Forrt is a popular film actor associated with Malayalam cinema. He portrays both lead and supporting roles, and is a theatre artist too. A graduate from the prestigious FTII, Pune, he marked his screen debut with Shyamaprasad’s Ritu in 2009, along with a few more newcomers including Asif Ali, Nishan and Rima Kalingal. After playing numerous character roles on screen, he came to limelight through the iconic role of Java Sir in romantic film, Premam released in 2015. Forrt is known for his natural and realistic acting skills, and his lead role in 2019 comedy flick, Thamasha was well appreciated.

Shyamaprasad’s Ritu marked his screen debut

Vinay Forrt was born in Fort Kochi, Kerala in 1983. He holds a post-graduation degree in acting from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and owns more than a decade of experience as a theater activist. He married his long-term girlfriend Soumya at Guruvayur temple in 2014 and the couple has one son. As an actor he marked his screen debut with Shyamaprasad’s Ritu in 2009. He got the role after a screen test. Apoorvaragam was his first full length role. Later he was seen in 7^th Day, Karmayogi, Anwar, Da Thadiya, Rasputin, Seconds, Theevram, Shutter, Veettilekulla Vazhi etc. Most of them were twisted roles and characters with negative shades. He played the role of an auto driver in Shutter.

Java is simple – A simple dialogue which changed the destiny of Vinay Forrt

He stole hearts of the audience as college lecturer Vimal in Premam, and his dialogue “Java simple aanu.. pinne powerful.. bhayankara powerfullumaanu.. pinne safe aanu”, became viral among youth. The scenes where he tries to impress his colleague Sai Pallavi through different tricks also brought laughter in theatres. His iconic role earned him the first IIFA Utsavam award in best comic actor category, and many other accolades and nominations.

Hello Namaste, Kismat, Kammatti Paadam, Kohinoor, Thamasha, Ladoo, Role Models, Avarude Raavukal, God Say, Unda etc are some of his roles later, where he played lead, supporting and cameo roles. He has completed 1 decade in Malayalam film industry portraying entirely different shades on big screen. Many of his realistic yet simpleton characters on screen make us remember Rajkummar Rao of Hindi screen who also excels in similar kind of roles.

Vinay Forrt – Some interesting and less-known facts

Vinay’s iconic ‘Java’ dialogue from Premam

1. He is a recipient of National Scholarship from the Government of India for the Best Senior Theatre Actor during the period, 2004–2006.

2. He hosted Vivel Big Break TV show in Surya TV in 2011 and Comedy Super Nights 2 for Flowers TV in 2016.

3. He shared screen space with Naseeruddin Shah for Hindi/English bilingual thriller – The Blueberry Hunt. 

4. He is a trained contemporary dancer too.

5. He carried a wig with him to cover bald head for the audition of his debut flick. However Shyamaprasad didn’t want it, and offered him the role.

6. He played the brief role of a person Jamal who pretends to be a gay in his debut film, Ritu. To give this look, he was given French beard, red lips with lipstick and kohl for eyes for the first shot scene. He had just two scenes in the movie, but the role was very challenging for Forrt.

7. Though he played a teacher trying to woo his colleague in both Premam and Thamasha, he brought entirely different shades and mannerisms to both these roles.

8. He played memorable role of Harichandran in God Say, which went unnoticed. He reached the last round for state awards in best actor category, and slipped at last moment. He was more sad that the movie went unnoticed, and didn’t reach audiences.

9. Body language in his movies is not natural, though it appears so. Such things are done after a lot of thoughts and learning in method acting helps a lot. 10 years of theatre experience also helped him a lot, and also his studies at acting school, which also taught him how to express himself while the other person in the frame is delivering dialogues.

10. For the role of police inspector in low-budget movie, Kismat, he increased his weight by 8 kgs. He included more butter, sweet potatoes and eggs in his daily diet and made his body fit by attending a gym. He also made his hair short and fixed big moustache to fit into the role. It was one of the rare characters which he did for satisfaction, without caring about remuneration.  

11. He played the role of a young man suffering from alopecia in Thamasha in 2019. Interestingly two films released in Bollywood same year, sharing the same subject of bald head – Bala and Ujda Chaman. Ujda Chaman and Thamasha were official remakes of Kannada movie, Ondu Motteya Kathe released in 2017.

12. He mostly loves to play grey shades on screen.

13. During college days, he was associated with SFI and has won union college elections. However later he felt that politics don’t suit him.