Kerala’s priest turns actor for south Indian films

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Johnson Karoor, a former Catholic priest in the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church here, left his calling to fulfill his passion for acting in films.

Karoor was a priest for 12 years after which he decided to join film industry. His debut was in the Malayalam film, ‘Nirakkazhcha’ (Waves of Colour), directed by Anish J Karinad.

“I was a priest for 12 years. Right now, I am going to act in a movie. So, I opted (for) acting. My first movie which I got was ‘Nirakkazhcha’ which was directed by Anish J Karinad,” said Karoor.

Karoor refuted rumours that he was expelled from the Church after turning to films.

“Some of our fellows said that after ‘Nirakkazhcha’ I was expelled from the Church; that is wrong. I was not expelled from the Church. I myself decided to go out. This is the first time a priest is acting in a film. So, this will create a lot of problem to the hierarchy, the Church authority,” said Karoor.

In the movie ‘Nirakkazhcha’, Karoor befriends an Italian painter (Italian actor Vicenza Bocciarelli) who comes to Kerala to study Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings, and falls in love with a model. The movie was released two weeks ago.

After the launch of his first film, Karoor is aiming for the lucrative Tamil film industry. By K S Aashik (ANI)