After donning the hat of a Radio Jockey, programme producer and blogger, Jenith Kachappilly is now looking forward to his debut directorial venture Mariyam Vannu Vilakkoothi (MVV).
As the movie is gearing up for release on Friday, the team opens up to Onmanorama revealing more about their ambitious project.
“At this point, I don't want to make big promises but it will be a fun movie shot on an experimental pattern. As Malayalis, we have always loved to watch movies of friendship like those of Mohanlal-Mukesh. And in this too, we have tried to recreate such moments. I would like to call it a poor man's Boeing Boeing,” says director Jenith Kachappilly. Boeing Boeing is a 1985 comedy drama written and directed by Priyadarshan. Interestingly, Sethulakshmi's character poster of MVV reminded movie buffs of late actress Sukumari from Boeing Boeing.
From Mandakini to MVV
Shabareesh Verma, who plays one among the lead in the movie pointed that director Jenith wanted to make the movie with an 80's touch.
“It's been a while that a movie with a slapstick mood has come and such movies with realistic and dramatic shades are coming back once again. Even my last movie 'Thaneer Mathan Dinangal' had realistic dialogues with ample dramatic moments. And viewers widely accepted it. So, we hope such movies are bringing a change to Malayalam cinema,” he adds.
Talking about the interesting title, Shabareesh says, “Initially, the makers had titled the film 'Mandakini'. But then, with the release of movies like 'Mandaram' and 'Dakini', the title seemed confusing and that's when Jenith came up with 'Mariyam Vannu Vilakkoothi'. Mariyam is played by actress Sethulakshmi in the movie and she has a link to other major characters in the movie.”
The twists and suspense
Although the movie promises to be a fun ride, actor-director Althaf Salim who plays an interesting character in it revealed that MVV will also have ample twists. “Though I cannot talk too much, the film does have a suspense element and one can expect the film to be on the lines of a comedy thriller,” says Althaf.
“When I came into the industry, direction was the only thing on my mind. But then, 'Premam' happened and it was director Alphonse Puthren's decision to cast me in a role. So, it was a friend's circle that paved way for my acting. And for this one too, the friendship bond was the major driving force,” he adds.
The friendship gang
“When Jenith first briefed the story to Siju Wilson, the former mentioned that real life friends will bring in more life to the characters and he was looking for a team of 5. Afterwards, when Krishna Sankar joined the cast, he referred me to the crew. Since we all knew each other it was easy to be part of the narrative,” says Shiyas.
Shiyas, an advocate by profession, was part of movies like Premam and Thobama.
Innovative ideas
Right from the movie's announcement to the promo videos, MVV has been widely noted for it's out of the box ideas and actor Krishna Sankar credits everything to director Jenith. “All credits behind such creative ideas goes to him. Each time the posters of the movie were released, many personally mentioned that it struck the right chord and I hope the film too will stand out,” he says.
Jenith, on the other hand says he was very keen about the promos of the film and he credits producer Rajesh Augustine for giving him the right freedom.
