Do cameo roles enhance story narratives?

Cameo roles

are surely quite interesting to watch. From the popular sitcom ‘Friends’ to even the newly released Malayalam film ‘L2: Empuraan’, the creators use cameo roles to generate a sudden amount of excitement among the audiences in seeing a star actor on screen. But is the inclusion of an unnecessary cameo role a burden? Well, it’s a serious question to be considered.

“I asked for a cameo role in ‘Abraham Ozler’ - Mammootty

Mammootty’s cameo appearance in the thriller Jayaram starrer ‘Abraham Ozler’ literally lifted the movie to another level. Mammootty’s entry sequence in this Midhun Manuel Thomas’ directorial is surely one of the best sequences that happened recently. Talking in a promotional interview, Mammootty admitted that he asked for the cameo role in the movie. He said, “I asked director Midhun if I could make a cameo appearance in the film, and he thought it was a good idea. A while later, he got back to me with a confirmation."
One can easily say that the role of Mammootty in ‘Abraham Ozler’ would have worked even if it had been played by any other actor. This is where the star value of an actor lifts a normal thriller story. The Jayaram starrer would have ended as a normal thriller movie if Mammootty had not played a cameo role in it.
Rick Yune in ‘L2: Empuraan’

Spoilers here Prithviraj Sukumaran’s idea to cast the ‘Fast and Furious’ actor Rick Yune in his latest outing ‘L2: Empuraan’ was surely a great idea, but was ot effective? Was the real purpose of casting such a foreign actor served well? The answer could be a strong yes or no.
While Hollywood fans may know Rick Yune from ‘Fast and Furious’ or ‘James Bond’ movies, the real audiences for ‘Empuraan’, the audiences who are unaware of such an actor, would find it difficult to get that surprise factor in the climax of the movie.
On the positive side, the inclusion of such an actor can elevate the film from a ‘Pan-Indian’ level to something called a ‘Pan-world’ level. But the real question is, Was ‘Empuraan’s content strong enough to create such a huge impact for worldwide audiences who have already been exposed to intense action flicks like ‘John Wick’, ‘Nobody’ or other films.
Nivin Pauly’s cameo in ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’

No one can deny the fact that the only relief element in Vineeth Sreenivasan’s directorial ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’ was Nivin Pauly’s cameo appearance as Nithin Molly, the superstar. This is surely the perfect example of how to use the star value of an actor and blend it perfectly with the storyline. His viral cameo dialogue “Oottakk Vazhivetti Vannathda” was praised for boosting the film’s buzz.

‘Varshangalkku Shesham’ worked among the family audiences - Kalesh Ramanand
In an exclusive interview with ETimes, the ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’ actor said that the movie was well-received by the audiences. He said, “While ‘Aavesham’ was a trend among the audiences, ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’ was a superhit among the family audiences.”
From the words of Kalesh, one thing is certain: the majority of the viewers currently in Kerala are family audiences who want the cameo characters to feel connected to them rather than an unfamiliar face. Nivin Pauly is surely an actor who has established a fan base among the youth and even family audiences.
The same is the case with Mohanlal’s cameo role in Nivin Pauly starrer ‘Kayamkulam Kochunni’. Anyone would be excited to see such a familiar face like Mohanlal’s on-screen.
Cameos that worked and didn’t work
While Nivin Pauly’s cameo in ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’, Basil Joseph in ‘Vaazha’, and Mammootty in ‘Abraham Ozler’ worked well, there are several other instances where it failed to impress the audiences. One such big example is Vijay Sethupathi’s voice cameo in Mammootty’s ‘Turbo’. Adding to the fact that such a cliffhanger ending was unnecessary, Vijay Sethupathi’s cameo role in the climax left everyone unimpressed.
In conclusion, cameo roles can add to the impact of a film and it’s potential at the box office, but its overuse just creates hype around it, rather than serving anything good for the storyline. Referring to what Kalesh Ramanand said in his exclusive interview with us, the story, or even the cameo roles should be highly relatable to the majority of the family audiences as well.