Interview | Lijomol Jose: ‘Jai Bhim’ gave me the confidence to be an actor

Lijomol Jose cannot make up her mind about whether she is an accidental actor or a reluctant one. She bursts out laughing as she says , “I don’t know…maybe a reluctantly accidental actor?” As Unmadham reaches theatres today, the self-confessedly ‘extremely introverted’ actor is doing a flash back on what led her to a career in films. Best known among her roles are those in films like Jai Bhim and Ponman, apart from her debut film Maheshinte Prathikaaram (2016). Steffi in Ponman was a breakout of sorts. The 2025 film, inspired by GR Indugopan’s novel Naalanchu Cheruppakaar and directed by Jothish Sankar, gave her space to prove her acting chops and how. Pitched against Basil Joseph, Lijo was noticed for her portrayal of the brusque and no-nonsense Steffi, whose motto seemed to be self preservation at any cost. Tamil and Malayalam films like Kattapanayile Ritwik Roshan, Honey Bee 2.5, Sivappu Manjal Pachai, Her, Baby Girl, and Nadanna Sambhavam are some of her other films over her past ten years as an actor. Her role in Jai Bhim fetched her the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for the Best Actress for Jai Bhim and the Kerala State Film Award for Best Character Actress for Nadanna Sambhavam. Lijomol Jose and Kunchacko Boban in ‘Unmadham’ | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT In Unmadham, she plays Saumya, wife of Shelly, a cop essayed by Kunchacko Boban. She has to step in when her husband is faced with certain challenges, “Saumya maintains the balance in their relationship. All relationships are not equal at all times, sometimes the other person has to step in and she is that person.”It is another serious role, along the lines of Ponman, Baby Girl and a few recent ones — the kind of characters that carry immense emotional load. “Initially when I heard the story, I told the makers that this was great. I didn’t have to be sad and weepy. However, I spoke too soon… I cry in Unmadham too! The only time I am smiling is in one place, I don’t know if it is in the film,” she says, laughing. Lijo almost bid goodbye to her career in films, when post-Maheshinte Prathikaaram and Kattapanayile Ritwik Roshan, she was getting similar roles. She was preparing to write JRF and NET exams so that she could qualify as a teacher, when she was offered the Tamil film Jai Bhim, directed by TG Gnanavel, and starring Suriya. Basil Joseph and Lijomol Jose in ‘Ponman’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement “At the time I could do that because I did not want to be typecast. Today, I cannot just take a break making this the reason! I will just have to wait for some story that will make me smile onscreen…”More than performanceShe is happy that performance-oriented roles are coming her way, and that she is one of the actors being considered for such roles but now she wants more. Lijo wants to be part of light-hearted films which would make the audience laugh, and leave them happy. “But I am not the kind who will ask for a role or to be considered for a role. I am too much of an introvert to do that and it is probably not the best way to be but that is who I am.” It is ironic because Lijo seems like a happy, always-smiling kind of person. Listening to her narrate the story of her first audition, for Maheshinte Prathikaaram, of how she wanted leave, of how she asked the team to schedule her shooting around her semester exams, and how she refused to tell people that she was the actor in that film…it is a laugh riot. Then there are the Jai Bhim and Ponman stories. She tells the stories animatedly, giving one the sense that this is an actor who is committed to her craft. “It was Jai Bhim that gave me the confidence that I could be an actor, that I could make a career out of films.” Prepping for the film was hard work, Lijo had to literally become her character, Sengeni, a tribal woman. A ‘Jai Bhim’ poster | Photo Credit: Special arranagement She lived and worked among Irula tribal people, walked barefoot and wore a sari constantly, learnt to think in Tamil so that she could speak better in the language. Once the film was done she could not get out of the character for a while, says Lijo. “I don’t think a film has demanded so much of me since or even before.” The film also got her a slew of awards and offers from Malayalam cinema, which seemed to have forgotten about her. From Library Sciences to actingMaheshinte Prathikaaram was demanding in another way, because acting was never part of the plans for the Mass Communication graduate who was studying for her post-graduate degree in Library Sciences. It was on a suggestion from a friend that she responded to a casting call for the film. To this day she does not know why she did what she did. “Acting or films were never ever part of my plans ever. I was an average student, I doubt if my teachers even remember me. The stage was one place I never ventured near, even accidentally. Back home, in Idukki, we seldom went to the movies. It was after I joined college in Kochi that I started watching more films.” Convinced she wouldn’t make the cut, she applied. Fate had other plans, the Maheshinte Prathikaaram team liked her and, just like that, she was an actor. “When I first told my mother that I had applied for it, she scolded me asking why would I do that when I had never acted before,” Lijo reminisces. Though she tried to leave that first audition several times, Unnimaya Prasad, actor-producer, convinced her to give it a shot. “She told me that even if I didn’t clear the audition, nobody would know and that I should try it. If not for Unnimaya chechi, I would not be here, as an actor!” When she looks back 10 years in, did her journey in cinema take expected routes?“I did not expect to make a career in films. Even when I was doing it, I was aware that women actors, usually, get a limited time frame to work in. However, for me, it is now that I am, I don’t know if I can say, peaking but good things are happening. Be it recognition, awards or the teams that I am working with. And I am grateful for it.” Unmadham is playing in theatres