The movie was shot in Gopalapuram and Kollangode areas bordering Tamil Nadu apart from Thiruvananthapuram and Vizhinjam. Murali Gopy (left) Anandapadmanabhan.P. Padmarajan’s rustic characters are set for a comeback thanks to the celebrated writer-director’s son.
When Anandapadmanabhan was asked to write a movie script a few years ago, he did not have to look far. His father had left him a treasure trove of stories with a host of incredible characters.
The characters from different stories will come together in ‘Kattu’, written by Anandapadmanabhan and directed by Arun Kumar Aravind.
Apart from Mooppan and Chellappan, the movie features a lot of characters from different stories. Padmarajan fans may have to wait for one more week to get to know the entire characters. You may be familiar with a few of them from the stories.
Anandapadmanabhan originally wrote the script for a leading director 17 years ago but the script intimidated the director. He said such a script demanded a director like Bharathan, Padmarajan’s long-time associate.
Bharathan was no more and there were few to match his stature. So Anandapadmanabhan shelved the project, not before giving it to his friend Murali Gopi to read. Murali Gopi, the son of another legend, ‘Bharat’ Gopi, was a journalist back then.
Murali later turned a screen writer and actor. Anandapadmanabhan also made his debut as a screen writer with ‘August Club’, directed by K B Venu.
Murali recently told Aravind about Anandapadmanabhan’s unpublished story as they talked about a new movie. Anandapadmanabhan worked on his old script and gave it finishing touches. The story revolves around the people of Onattukara in south Kerala. Anandapadmanabhan rewrote the script three times, toning down the local dialect to make it more accessible to people across Kerala.
The movie will be a throwback to the earlier decades when Malayalam cinema featured rustic characters in all their vengeance and valor. Movies such as ‘Itha Ivide Vare’, ‘Chatta’, ‘Lorry’ and ‘Thazhvaram’ are still remembered for their strong-willed characters.
“Later, rural characters were turned into comic elements. They were used only for humor and ridicule. ‘Kattu’ is a return to the rustic characters with vengeance and valor,” said Anandapadmanabhan.
‘Kattu’ has Murali and Asif Ali as the central characters. Ali went through the script three times and trained himself in the Onattukara dialect before committing to the project. Unni Rajan P Dev is another notable actor associated with the project.
The movie was shot in Gopalapuram and Kollangode areas bordering Tamil Nadu apart from Thiruvananthapuram and Vizhinjam.
Anandapadmanabhan said the team was very hopeful when they presented the movie before an audience who had received the new generation movies.
