Any New Tricks, Vijayan?

Footballer, actor and now politician. I M Vijayan doesn't cease to throw up surprises, comments Sunil Warrier.

There are a few endearing images of I M Vijayan, who Kolkata suitably rechristened Kalo Harin (Black Deer), that are framed in the minds of football fans.
No Indian footballer could receive the ball and in the same twinkling moment convert it into a pass. With a deflated chest and tummy tucked in, he would let the ball roll down his front, beat a defender with an easilystaged dexterous twirl of his ebony-hued body and be ready with the next move. It seemed like a deliberate ploy to raise the goosies in the stands. But, when Vijayan exhibited football skills, there was a born-to-do-it look about it.
Those who watched his tremendous blink-andmiss backvolley from the top corner of the box that brought JCT the Scissors Cup in 1996 would swear by the moment. It was nirvana for the 35,000 at the Corporation Stadium in Kozhikode. Word passed into the thousands on the streets of JCT's win over Malaysian club Perlis. It was impossible to find standing space on the peripheral roads at least for two hours after the match.
Vijayan, at his peak, could force the organisers to oversell tickets. He was the cash cow of football. Be it while playing for Kerala Police, Mohun Bagan, JCT, FC Kochin or East Bengal or India, Vijayan had the aura and ability to provide hope. For those magical 90 minutes, you could sit spellbound, only the cheers a reminder that what's on is a football match and not an opera. The venue could be Municipal Stadium in Thrissur, Salt Lake in Kolkata or Nehru Stadium in Goa. The impact would be the same.
There are a few images of Vijayan that are easily forgotten too. Like a couple of years ago at the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad. The outshirted jersey couldn't hide a maturing belly. Vijayan's best was at least three years behind him and he was struggling with form and skill. He was playing from moves drawn out of pages from the past. The final against a young Uzbekistan side was his international swansong. India lost and Vijayan's retirement party was busted.
Kerala Congress chief K Karunakaran may not be an avid football fan. Politics is the wily veteran's stadium. Having recruited Vijayan, he is hoping that the aging footballer - Vijayan is now 36 - could replicate his efforts on the football stadium in the theatre of politics.
Vijayan's role as a politician surely requires him to speak a few words at public functions. At 36, he could still conjure up a magical free-kick but Vijayan speaking in public is difficult to visualise. He barely utters monosyllables.
Perhaps Karunakaran has spotted something extra in Vijayan like award-winning Malayalam film director J Jayaraj saw while selecting him for Shantham (Calmness). The political revengetaking character of Velayudhan didn't require anything more than monosyllables. Vijayan's facial contours were what prompted Jayaraj to cast him.
Not one to plan and plot, Vijayan's life has moved on instinctively. Fortunately for him, Dame Luck has always been on his side. From selling soda bottles during football matches in Thrissur; from the abject poverty-ridden shanty of a house; from being spotted by TK Chathunny; from his first real break for Kerala Police then moving on to Kolkata, Punjab and Goa; an acting career... and now a politician. The metamorphosis never seems to cease. Vijayan always has some tricks up his rustic sleeve.