Salim Ghouse, the actor who set the screen on fire but never got his due

“Yaar andha Stephen Raj?” (Who is that Stephen Raj)

This was the first dialogue delivered by actor Salim Ghouse in his debut Tamil film Vetri Vizha in 1989, more than one-and-a-half hours into the run-time.

When Ghouse, who passed away recently, spoke those words, the audience sat up. There was a reason. The baritone voice, coupled with rage expressed through a snigger, commanded the audience’s attention. Standing tall, attired in a white suit, with hair long up to his shoulders and a French beard, Ghouse presented before the audience a stylish, English-speaking, well-dressed villain, a novelty for Tamil cinema.

He made a strong impression with his entry into the frame and continued to do so throughout the film. What helped was that the lines his character were given were forceful and the way he delivered them had a lasting impact. For example, later in the film when he decides to kill two of his hitmen and they seek pardon, Ghouse’s character says ‘he only has powers to punish and not to pardon’. The dialogues of the film were penned by K Rajeshwar, who later went on to direct a cult gangster film Amaran in 1992.

Vetri Vizha became a huge box office hit. Many thought that Ghouse was an ‘imported’ villain from the Bollywood, though he was born and brought up in Chennai. People refused to believe his origins even after it became public knowledge that he had spoken his dialogues and that they were not dubbed.

The main reason was his diction. He spoke Tamil in a measured way, resembling someone who would have taken a crash course in the language.

After 30 years, as one watches the movie now, it becomes clear that Ghouse did not get his due in Tamil cinema. His potential was not exploited to the extent it could have been. Some of his fans even believe that after Sathyaraj, it was only Ghouse who could have stood up as a villain to a strong performer like Kamal Haasan,

Making of an actor

Ghouse took his initial education from Christchurch School and later did his graduation from Presidency College in Chennai. Right from his younger days, he developed an interest in Shakespeare and started staging the author’s plays. He named his theatre group Phoenix and directed plays such as ‘The Merchant of Venice’, ‘Hamlet’, ‘Macbeth’, etc.

He then went on to join the Pune Film and Television Institute and won a gold medal for acting. The medal coupled with his theatre experience helped him land an audition with noted Tamil filmmaker K Balachander. It was when Balachander was auditioning for the role of Pandian for next venture Apoorva Ragangal (1975). Ghouse, however, was rejected for the role, which went to no other than Rajinikanth.

“Film maker K Balachander’s rejection traumatised me. Eventually, it spurred me to do things I might not have done. I began to write poetry. I still do, and plan to publish when I gather more courage…” he said in an interview to The Hindu in 2003.

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He also trained in martial arts. He was a 7th Dan black belt in Karate. His well-built physique came in handy when he played characters like Lord Rama and Tipu Sultan in Shyam Benegal’s serial Bharat Ek Khoj (1988).

Not getting the recognition he deserved

Even after a successful debut, Ghouse had to wait three years to get his second Tamil film, Chinna Gounder in 1992. It too was a powerful role. His character, Sakkarai Gounder had equal weightage with that of the main actor Vijayakanth. Vijaykanth was a rising star then and was giving tough competition to the leading stars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.

It should be noted that it was only Vijayakanth who came out and expressed his condolences following the death of the actor last week.

The other film which exploited the acting skills of Ghouse was in Malayalam, which came before Chinna Gounder. The 1990 film Thazhvaram, written by popular novelist MT Vasudevan Nair and directed by noted filmmaker Bharathan, gave a powerful role to Ghouse, who shared the screen with Mohanlal.

The character Ghouse played (Raju/Raghavan) was not villainous per se, but had dominant grey shades. While in the first half of the film he seems to be bearing the weight of a crime — killing his friend’s wife and running away with their money — in the second half he turns a predator hunting his friend Balan, played by Mohanlal.

Ghouse made a powerful impact in the film. It is in this film that he developed his signature smile blended with a snide. This made him a distinctive villain in films across languages. In Bollywood too, his roles in films like Koyla (1997) and Soldier (1998) were much appreciated.

Though he acted alongside Kamal Haasan and starred in Mani Ratnam’s 1993 film Thiruda Thiruda, Ghouse would be most remembered for his role as Vedhanayagam in Vijay starrer Vettaikkaaran (2009), at least for Tamil audience. The dialogue he delivered in the film is still remembered after so many years and has gained cult status– “Bayam… Vedhanayagamna Bayam!” (Fear… Vedhanayagam means fear!).

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