Let’s start taking a look at Nivin Pauly’s movies in last 3 years.
2014 – 1983 (Jan), Om Shanti Oshaana (Feb), Bangalore Days (May)
2015 – Mili (Jan), Oru Vadakkan Selfie (Mar), Ivide, Premam (May)
2016 – Action Hero Biju (Feb), Jacobinte Swargarajyam (Apr)
There is a specific pattern you would notice in this list – Nivin Pauly does all his movies in the first half of the year. Yes you read that right – He does not do movies in the second half ! (The friendly appearances in Vikramadithyan or Aanandam could be exempted as he had hardly few minutes in them). This is just one means to show how the actor has developed the habit of being very selective !
For an actor who had come with no film background and had his share of struggles and failures in the first part of his career from 2010 to 2013 , it was 2014 where his career took a U turn. All his 3 movies – 1983, Bangalore Days and Om Shaanti Oshaana were huge hits and his performances won rave reviews too. 1983 won him his first state award too.
2015 was yet another huge year in actor’s career as the successful Oru Vadakkan Selfie was immediately followed by one of Industry’s biggest hits Premam. It’s when in 2016 we heard how Oppam and Pulimurugan broke several BO records of Premam, we once again realized what big euphoria Premam had created last year. Nivin even benefited because Premam and Ivide released the same date. How his work in Ivide was paler in comparison to that of Prithviraj’s went largely unnoticed. Now in 2016, the actor has another two big hits in Action Hero Biju and Jacobinte Swargarajyam.
It looks like the actor has learnt from the first part of his career or even perhaps looking at careers of other younger actors like Jayasurya or Indrajith – who were obviously talented but wasted their years by being part of almost anything that came their way. There is a clear determination to not squander away the advantage he has now by being part of weaker projects. He still prefers to work with his close friends or trusted directors but doesn’t also shy away once in a while to take risks like Ivide or to do roles he hadn’t done before like Action Hero Biju. How he went all out in promoting and marketing Action Hero Biju which played a huge part in its success is a lesson to actors who turn producers.
Nivin Pauly’s Matra for success at this point is simple – “Be extremely selective. Be extremely successful”. What Nivin Pauly’s habit of doing movies only in the first half of a year did was is it gave his fans and viewers a good gap to let them come back next year with more curiosity and excitement for his next projects. Cine-goers have now set a minimum guarantee for this actor and they have a belief they can go in for his movies even without waiting for any online reviews or word of mouth. That is no mean achievement for any actor ! Nivin – We now look forward to the first half of 2017 !
