Eda Thadiya - The Big Eater - My Malayali Acting Comeback

What a difference language makes. Some five years after my last movie shoot in Bombay, I made my comeback in "The Big Eater", a Malayalam movie, by renowned Kerala film maker Aashiq Abu,  about a rather obese guy who falls in love with (and of course gets) a really pretty girl. 

The first day of shooting was at a the Kashi Café in Fort Cochin, so there was no commuting time, despite the 7:30 AM start. The directors, actors and crew were friendly and engaging. Breakfast was delicious. 

On the set I met a writer from South Africa, a games graphic artist from Malaysia, a nice young woman from just outside London. The stars smiled and said hi.

They did the restaurant scene rather lickety-split, with only about three takes per sequence, as opposed to eight or more in a Hindi movie. I was in two sequences. In the first, I conversed with a waiter at the coffee bar. In the second, I ate a piece of cake with the nice young woman from just outside London. The back of my bald head should feature somewhere in the final cut. The entire scene was done before lunch time. 

The crew is in town for a few shoots, so perhaps I can get a dancing part in an upcoming production. It's good to be back!