Tovino Thomas: 'You're a Christian, How Could You Cheat?' Malayalam Actor Shares Funny College Story

Actor Tovino Thomas recently shared a hilarious story from his college days. He remembered getting caught red-handed while cheating in an exam, and his teacher's epic reaction: 'You're a Christian, how could you do this?'

Tovino Thomas and Basil Joseph are starring together in a new movie called 'Atiradi'. In the film, Basil plays a college student named Samboy, while Tovino plays a character named Sreekuttan Vellayani. This is the first film directed by Arun Anirudhan, who was the co-writer for 'Minnal Murali'. The movie is set to release in theatres on May 14.

During a promotional event for the film, Tovino Thomas shared a very funny story from his college days. He recalled being caught cheating in an exam hall and how his teacher scolded him, saying, "You're a Christian, aren't you? How could you do this? Go and confess your sin in church."

"I have used 'chits' in exams, and I've also been caught," Tovino said with a laugh. "Back then, we had micro-xerox. You could shrink notes from a large page into a tiny printout. We would fold them and hide them everywhere. Three of us friends, who sat near each other based on our roll numbers, divided five chits each. My friend Vimal and I were sitting side-by-side, but Shehnaz was a bit far away. When I saw the question paper, all the questions were from my chits! I was so happy," Tovino said.

"I looked up and saw both my friends staring at me. I managed to flip a chit to the guy next to me. But the friend sitting at the end was looking at me helplessly. I had no idea how to pass it to him. I realised if I kept worrying about him, I would fail myself, so I started writing, hiding the chit inside my question paper," he explained.

"After a while, I felt someone touch my leg. I looked down, and it was my friend! He had crawled past four desks, avoiding the teacher's eyes, just like in 'Tom and Jerry'. I gave him the chit, but watching him go back made me super tense. In college, everyone had the wrong impression that I was a 'decent' boy. The teacher saw the panic on my face and probably felt sorry for me, thinking I didn't know the answers. She even offered to help me out of pity," Tovino described.

"I started writing again, but when I had to turn the page, there it was... the 'bit' paper. She caught me right away and made me stand outside. At the time, I used to wear a rosary for style, not because I was very religious. The teacher asked me, 'Being a Christian, how could you do this?' I just said, 'Sorry, it was a mistake.' She felt bad for me seeing my face.

'Teacher, give me the bit paper back!'

"She told me, 'You must mention this in your confession.' I promised her I would. 'Alright, go and write the rest of your exam,' she said. I took two steps, then turned back and asked, 'Teacher, can I have the bit paper back?' That was it. She threw me out of the hall. How was I supposed to write without it? But my two friends passed the exam," Tovino said, laughing. He shared this story during an interview with Movieman Broadcasting.