Brother's IAS selection, father's strange support and ‘Poochakkoru Mookkuthi’ ; Suresh Kumar has come a long way

Although it started as a wage dispute between the Producers' Association and the film stars, the whole matter aggravated after producer Antony Perumbavoor decided to lock horns with Suresh Kumar. Many actors shouldered support for Antony while famed names within the association continued to back Suresh Kumar.

While responding to the matter, Suresh Kumar admitted that Mohanlal's support of Antony pained him, but decided to be unwavering in his stance on the whole issue.

Suresh Kumar entered cinema in 1978 along with his best pals Mohanlal and Priyadarshan. Lal and Suresh studied in the same class at Thiruvananthapuram Model School. Suresh even made a film with Mohanlal as lead in his first year of B.Com. The budget was Rs.50000 and the filming was done at Lal's house. However, the film was released only in one centre in Attingal.

Soon, with high hopes of making it into the industry, Suresh travelled to Madras in a general compartment train. He was not alone as he took along his best friend Mohanlal for the journey. At this juncture, one man who had promised to finance their movie suddenly disappeared. Suresh, who had by then borrowed hefty money from many of his friends back at home ended up in a fix. He booked a room at Swami’s lodge with little to no money even for food.

By this time, a relative of Suresh in Chennai paid for the lodging bill and sent Suresh back home. The return was not as bad as he imagined. It was upon reaching home that Suresh learned about his elder brother Mohan Kuma's IAS selection. Soon after, inspiration and support came from Suresh's father to pursue his interest in movies.

Suresh then financed movies including ‘Thenum Vayambum’ and ‘Coolie’. Both ended up as disasters. In 1984, Suresh tried his luck again with ‘Poochakkoru Mookkuthi’. The movie turned into a blockbuster and ran in packed houses for weeks. The film also marked a novice film producer’s arrival in the industry. Suresh last produced ‘Vaashi’ which was released in 2022.