Kalabhavan Shajohn recently spoke about how playing a police officer, opposite Mohanlal in Drishyam, changed the perception of him as an actor. Shajohn revealed that he used to do 20-25 films before acting in the iconic thriller, directed by Jeethu Joseph. "After Drishyam, my frequent collaborators would call me and tell me that they do not have a role suitable for me in their films," Shajohn told Mathrubhumi. He continued, "They would say, 'We cannot give you such films any longer, right?'" He also shared that filmmakers would consider him only in roles similar to his cop in Drishyam.
"Whenever they think about police characters, they would consider calling me only. It is both a positive and a negative for me," Kalabhavan Shajohn said about the impact of the character on his career. He also admitted that it is "a big struggle" for him to come out of that image to avoid getting typecast.
Shajohn had a career peak with Drishyam, ending a streak of comedy films. People of a certain vintage would remember his now-iconic line in Anwar Rasheed and Mammootty's action-comedy Annan Thampi: "nee enthu thengaya ee parayune?" (What coconut are you saying?)
Shajohn will next be seen in director Ajay Shaji's Amoz Alexander, co-starring Jaffer Idukki, Aju Varghese and Tara Amala Joseph. Recently, he revealed that he is not part of Drishyam 3 as yet and that the makers of the film are unlikely to call him for it.
