Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan shed light on little-known aspects of his life in an apparently free-wheeling interview with actor Mohan Lal, which was broadcast on prime-time television on Thursday (February 26, 2026).
Mr. Vijayan revealed his love for Rajanikanth movies and his preference for action flicks. He also dwelled on how reading had helped him shrug off his childhood fear of “ghosts and demons”
“Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables and Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina shaped my worldview. The Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and other classical Hindu texts kindled in me a spirit of renunciation typical of sanyasis. It taught me to be content with what I have and not chase material benefits,” he said. He termed Communist veteran A.K. Gopalan as a “role model”.
Mr. Vijayan’s voice faltered mildly when he remembered his mother. “My mother had 14 children. I was the youngest. Eleven of my siblings died young, my two elder brothers and I remained,” he said.
Mr. Vijayan recalled that after writing his horoscope, his UP school teacher urged his mother to “pursue my studies till I failed”. In those days, he said, children dropped out of school in fifth grade and went to roll beedis. He said his UP school teacher called him “mukhyasthan”, which became a childhood nickname.
