THRISSUR: Just a notch below Mammootty and Mohanlal but a superstar in his own right, Suresh Gopi was a towering presence in Malayalam cinema in the 1990s and has remained so well into the new millennium. More melodramatic than method actor, Gopi was notable for larger-than-life characters whose colourful rants and knockout punch lines became part of film lore.
This loudness defined his politics too when Gopi, famously, at a rally during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with Amit Shah on stage, boasted, “I am taking [over] Thrissur”. It didn’t happen in 2019, and since then trolls have thrived at his expense, but on June 4, 2024 Gopi had the last laugh. In a three-way contest where he was expected to, at best, put up a stiff fight against two equally formidable opponents, Gopi won by around 75,000 votes, a victory attributed as much to his perseverance in sticking to Thrissur despite two continuous losses (he lost in the 2021 Assembly polls too) as to his fan following that went over and beyond party lines. Gopi’s much-touted proximity to Narendra Modi — the PM attended the actor’s daughter’s marriage in January and campaigned twice for him — also played a part in his victory.
Born in Kollam on June 26, 1958, Gopi debuted in movies as a child actor in the Malayalam movie ‘Odayil Ninnu’ in 1965. He acquired superstar status in the 1990s on the back of several hits, notably the film ‘Commissioner’ where he portrayed a go-getter IPS officer. Gopi has acted in about 250 films in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi and won the national award for the best actor in the Malayalam film ‘Kaliyattam’.
Even now, Gopi claims that his primary passion is cinema and reportedly told the BJP brass post-June 4 to defer making him a central minister till he completes several big-take movie projects that he has already committed. But apparently, the central and state leaderships of the party were keen to induct him immediately, not least as symbolic recognition of what ‘opening its account’ in Kerala means to the party.
Known for his charitable work, Gopi has been active in various social activities in Thrissur all these years, another factor that accounted for his wide acceptability.
This loudness defined his politics too when Gopi, famously, at a rally during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with Amit Shah on stage, boasted, “I am taking [over] Thrissur”. It didn’t happen in 2019, and since then trolls have thrived at his expense, but on June 4, 2024 Gopi had the last laugh. In a three-way contest where he was expected to, at best, put up a stiff fight against two equally formidable opponents, Gopi won by around 75,000 votes, a victory attributed as much to his perseverance in sticking to Thrissur despite two continuous losses (he lost in the 2021 Assembly polls too) as to his fan following that went over and beyond party lines. Gopi’s much-touted proximity to Narendra Modi — the PM attended the actor’s daughter’s marriage in January and campaigned twice for him — also played a part in his victory.
Born in Kollam on June 26, 1958, Gopi debuted in movies as a child actor in the Malayalam movie ‘Odayil Ninnu’ in 1965. He acquired superstar status in the 1990s on the back of several hits, notably the film ‘Commissioner’ where he portrayed a go-getter IPS officer. Gopi has acted in about 250 films in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi and won the national award for the best actor in the Malayalam film ‘Kaliyattam’.
Even now, Gopi claims that his primary passion is cinema and reportedly told the BJP brass post-June 4 to defer making him a central minister till he completes several big-take movie projects that he has already committed. But apparently, the central and state leaderships of the party were keen to induct him immediately, not least as symbolic recognition of what ‘opening its account’ in Kerala means to the party.
Known for his charitable work, Gopi has been active in various social activities in Thrissur all these years, another factor that accounted for his wide acceptability.