EXCLUSIVE: Tovino Thomas recalls being forced by Jude Anthany to do 2018; says, “I was apprehensive that if I act in it, it will be affected by my haters”

Tovino Thomas opened up about the way haters trolled him after he helped many during the 2018 floods in Kerala.

By Soumya Anantharaman -

May 12, 2023 - 3:51 PM IST

With 2018 movie releasing in multiple languages on Friday, May 12, actor Tovino Thomas is excited about the film reaching audiences across the country. For the unversed, the Jude Anthany directorial is based on true events that transpired during the Kerala floods in 2018. Recalling the time when he was approached for the film in an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Thomas mentioned that Anthany had refused to work with any other actor and wanted to work with Tovino after the latter turned ‘saviour’ to many during the crisis situation.

EXCLUSIVE: Tovino Thomas recalls being forced by Jude Anthany to do 2018; says, “I was apprehensive that if I act in it, it will be affected by my haters”

Readers might be aware that the magnitude of Kerala floods had left more than half the state distraught but many celebrities from the Malayalam industry extended their support to the victims. Tovino too acted quickly to help people in and around his hometown and was a major part of the flood relief programs. “I was someone who went out and worked very actively in flood relief,” he told Bollywood Hungama. However, the actor stated that he was worried about doing the film because he was witnessing a lot of negativity, due to extensive social media trolling. “When this movie came to me, I told the director, Jude Anthany, that, ‘bro if I do this, people will misinterpret’. I had already heard something about how people had started calling me ‘flood star’. So I told him, ‘I'm not doing a flood movie’. I understand that everyone has haters. My haters started making fun of whatever I did during the floods. So I told him, ‘I'm not acting in it. Let other actors act in it. If I act in it, the movie will be affected by all these haters and all these things’.”

However, director Jude Anthany refused to budge. “But he said, ‘You have to act in this movie. If you are not in this movie. I'm not going to make this movie at all’. That's what he said. And he explained to me about why he wanted me to be a part of this film and to play this character. He said, ‘Bro, if you're not doing this movie, I'm not doing this’ and I wanted this movie to happen. So, I said ‘yes’ because the character was very interesting and so was the storyline. The screenplay was so impressive. It was not a documentary based on floods but an actual movie,” concluded Tovino Thomas.

2018 also stars Kunchako Boban, Asif Ali, Aparna Balamurali, among others and released in Malayalam on May 5. The film recently released in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi on May 12.

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Tovino Thomas confirms Minal Murrali 2 release ONLY in theatres; says, “I want Netflix to acquire its OTT rights”