Ever since Eko was released last year and recently premiered on Netflix, actor Saheer Mohammed has been absorbing the scale of its reception. The film revolves around the search for a mysterious man named Kuriachan and has emerged as one of the biggest successes in Malayalam cinema in 2025. Within this layered mystery, Saheer plays Pappachan, an erstwhile police driver who assists a navy officer portrayed by Narain.
Harbouring a deep resentment towards Kuriachan, Pappachan becomes the lens through which the audience understands the cruelty inflicted on Naxals during the Emergency period, including Kuriachan's use of trained dogs as instruments of terror. According to Saheer, the response to Eko has been immensely heartening. “Many people from the industry personally called or met me to appreciate the work.” For an actor who has travelled a long, interrupted path to recognition, the reassurance mattered deeply.
Saheer stepped into the world of Eko without knowing its full emotional or narrative scope. “I was only told who Paapachan is in the present, his intention and state of mind,” he explains. “There was no detailed backstory. I didn’t even know the full story of the film while shooting. I discovered the full story of the film when I watched the final cut in the theatre, and it took me by surprise in a good way.” That restraint, he feels, allowed instinct to guide the performance.
Most of his scenes were with Narain, an actor he had briefly worked with two decades earlier. “When I was an assistant cameraman, I worked with him on Annorikkal (2005) for about ten days. Back then, he was credited as Sunil,” Saheer recalls. “He didn’t remember me at first during the pooja of Eko, but once we started shooting, we quickly became good friends.” The collaboration extended beyond the screen.“He has since recommended me to other filmmakers,” he says, grateful for the support. One sequence nearly turned dangerous during a car scene involving Saheer and Narain. “The brakes failed for real during filming that scene,” he says. “It was a close call, but we were very lucky, thanks to the team’s alertness.”
Saheer’s journey into cinema dates back to Choonad village in Alappuzha, where the medium captivated him from an early age. “My love for cinema began very early, around fourth standard. My dream was always to become a film director,” he says, adding, “acting was never part of the plan.” Performance found him anyway through school competitions, leading to years of theatre and professional drama during college.
In 1996, a near-break changed everything. “I was offered a chance to join Fazil sir’s Aniyathipraavu as an assistant director, but I lost it just two days before the shoot began.” That setback, however, lead to a pivotal introduction to cinematographer Anandakuttan. Working under him for nearly nine years, Saheer assisted on around twenty Malayalam and Tamil films. “The biggest advantage was exposure, travelling and working with different directors.”
An attempt to become an independent filmmaker in 2005 failed, after which Saheer stepped away from cinema for nearly fourteen years, working abroad. On returning, he found a transformed industry. “Digital filmmaking, new-generation directors, new storytelling styles. Everything had changed.” Acting slowly became the focus, with short films offering space to experiment. “Short films gave me space to experiment and learn,” he says.
In the years leading up to Eko, Saheer also appeared briefly in Kishkindha Kaandam, the breakout film of Dinjith Ayyathan and Bahul Ramesh, marking an early collaboration with the team. He later played a priest in Rahul Sadasivan-Pranav Mohanlal’s Dies Irae, along with a few other smaller appearances and a notable turn as Neeraj Madhav’s father in the JioHotstar series Love Under Construction.
Today, with upcoming projects like the science fiction comedy Pluto, Nivin Pauly and B Unnikrishnan’s political drama, and a film directed by Tinu Pappachan in the pipeline, Saheer remains firmly focused on acting. “Interestingly, I’m playing Neeraj’s father again in Pluto,” he smiles. Returning to direction, however, is not on the horizon. “Direction demands total commitment. Right now, I’m focused only on acting,” he makes it clear, even as he remains wary of being boxed into a particular kind of role.