Once the third-biggest superstar in Malayalam cinema, after Mohanlal and Mammootty, Suresh Gopi’s career has seen soaring highs and disastrous lows over the years. Known for his roles in action movies, he is credited with some massive blockbusters such as Ekalavyan (1993), Commissioner (1994), Highway (1995), Lelam (1997) and Pathram (1999). However, did you know that Gopi once considered quitting acting because many people accused him of polluting young minds? Yes, you heard that right. Nevertheless, he later scrapped the “hyper-sensitive decision” and made a comeback. He once even went as far as to claim that such attacks against him were part of a “mafia operation.”
Speaking about the pain these accusations caused him, Gopi said in a 2005 interview with Rediff: “Now I call them silly reasons to quit acting, or wrong decisions. It was also a hyper-sensitive decision that came fast. I was hurt, and still am hurt because even after I kept out of such roles, has the industry become cleaner? Now I know I can’t do the cleaning process alone. There are so many other bad activities in the industry, but no one wants to pose questions. Fingers were pointed only at me.”
Back then, Gopi had faced significant criticism for his hypermasculine, action-based characters that glamorised on-screen smoking and featured dialogues laden with cuss words and misogynistic expressions. “When parents accused me of polluting young minds, I was hurt. Now I know my profession and my social responsibilities are two different things. They have to be viewed from different perspectives, and different angles,” he stated.
He further claimed that these accusations were part of an organised attack, though he refrained from naming anyone. “There was a mafia operation behind what happened four years ago. Somebody wanted me out. Those who knew I was hyper sensitive organised all the interviews and TV appearances. They knew I would opt out. Those who appeared on television criticised the way I smoked cigarettes on screen, they abused me for the kind of dialogues I had. They said I was a bad influence on children. As if Mammootty or Mohanlal never smoked on screen, as if they never uttered a bad word in films! Because I was a stupid fool, I reacted emotionally. I realised my stupidity late,” he added.
A thunderous force in the ’90s, Suresh Gopi’s career began fluctuating in the 2000s and by the end of the decade, his downward journey had gained massive momentum. Though he appeared in a few movies in the early 2010s, they all bombed at the box office. As a result, he took a complete break in 2015 and shifted his focus to active politics, becoming a Rajya Sabha MP and a BJP member in 2016.
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While he made a notable comeback with Varane Avashyamund (2020), not all of his films have worked since then. He was last seen in Garudan (2023). Gopi currently serves as a Lok Sabha MP from Thrissur constituency, Kerala, and as Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas.
