Be it artistes or technicians, the Malayalam movie industry has been witnessing a rise in the number of newcomers recently. The advent of technology and producers willing to experiment with different subjects has been the major reason for this. As a result, we had many such movies post-2010; some became blockbusters and some failed to impress the audience. Many new directors came into the limelight in 2018 alone and made excellent movies like Captain, Sudani From Nigeria, Swathanthryam Ardharathriyil and Theevandi. The list doesn’t end here. The latest to join the party is Rafeek Ibrahim. His debut movie Padayottam was released in theatres on Friday and has garnered a great response from the audience.
Rafeek, who started as an assistant director in Honeybee, has been active in the movie industry for five years. Anuraga Karikkin Vellam, Rakshadhikari Baiju Oppu and Captain were some of the movies he assisted in. “One of the writers of the movie narrated the story during the shoot of Anuraga Karikkin Vellam. We discussed the movie in detail after the shoot and the biggest task was roping in Biju chettan for the role. Finally, we had the chance to narrate the story to him and he said okay,” says Rafeek.
Then it was the routine procedure of finding the right producer. The search ended when they met Sophia Paul. “The production team was so comfortable to work with. The artistes and technicians need to be credited for their cooperation. Many artistes adjusted the dates of their other movies for Padayottam.”
Rafeek is one director who had the chance to direct three directors — Dileesh Pothan, Lijo Jose Pellissery and Basil Joseph — in his debut movie. He remarks this opportunity as an ‘unforgettable experience’. He’s currently cherishing the success of the movie and affirms his next movie is on the cards. “Life has been a battle. Thanks to my wife for the never-ending support. I’m really happy with the response,” he says, crediting his whole team.
Ever since the posters, teaser and trailer released, Lilli has been in talks. The movie directed by Prasobh Vijayan has already caught the viewers’ eyes for the violence in its trailer.
“Lilli is a survivor-horror thriller. What you see in the trailer is just a sample. The movie has enough violence to engage you. It’s cute when you look naturally at a pregnant lady. But when you stare at her, it’s the biggest violence. That’s what you will get to see in the movie,” says Prasobh. His love for movie-making came out of the blue after his graduation. He has worked in the pre-production stage of Theevram movie, which he says is the only experience he had.
“The script for Lilli was developed in 20-30 days. One of my friends suggested Samyuktha to me as I was looking for someone chubby to play the character. Kannan Nayar was cast through an audition and Dhanesh was my friend. They all have good roles and I hope Lilli would be a good break.” Prasobh says he’s not worried about how the audience will receive the violence in the movie. “Our audiences are very uneducated and unpredictable. They analyse a movie really well. And working with a banner like E4 has been a great boost.” Lilli is all set to release on September 28. He is also working on his next project, which will be a comedy entertainer.
Jeem Boom Bhaa, the movie title itself makes us curious. The movie marks the debut venture of Rahul Ramachandran, who has been working with leading hospitality brands and has nine short films to his credit. “My short film Chin Sin Si won a total of 12 awards and that’s when I thought of doing a movie. The movie title reminds us of the spirit that comes out of the bottle. The title definitely has a pivotal presence in the movie. Let that be a suspense now,” says Rahul. The movie, which was shot completely in Thiruvananthapuram, features Askar Ali, Baiju Santhosh, Anju Kurian, Neha Saxena and Kannan Nayar in lead roles. The first look poster of the movie was released on Saturday and it had Askar and Baiju in the getup of Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta from the cult movie Pulp Fiction.
“The poster was inspired from Pulp Fiction. It’s a movie that’s loved by millions. We got a lot of appreciation for the poster and many criticised us too,” he says. The movie is slated for release in February, 2019. Rahul promises that the movie will be a pure comedy thriller. “It will be an In Harihar Nagar based in Thiruvananthapuram.” As per Fefka’s report, Rahul and producer Sachin V.G. are currently the youngest director and producer in the industry. Rahul’s next movie will start rolling in March with the same producer.
M.C. Jithin’s Nonsense is another movie the audience is waiting for. The movie featuring Rinosh George of ‘I’m A Mallu’ fame has already gained attention from its first look poster and trailer. “The subject of the movie is something I’ve been thinking about from school days. Our education system has a lot of flaws and the movie focuses on that. I’ve been working on this movie from 2008 and the content kept on getting updated,” says Jithin. He had worked as an assistant to Abrid Shine in 1983 and Action Hero Biju. He also finds his mentors in Bobby-Sanjay and Mahesh Narayanan as he had associated with them. “The movie will be the first one to support BMX sport in India. The sport needs to be popularised in India. A great coincidence is that the movie is getting released on October 12, Friday, and the story takes place on the same day too. The movie will also be a tribute to APJ Abdul Kalam.” The movie also stars Vinay Fortt, Shruthi Ramachandran, Lalu Alex and Kalabhavan Shajon. Johny Sagarika is coming back to production after a gap of six years through this movie. “The movie is one of the favourites of Johny Sagariga,” adds Jithin.
Also up next is Tovino’s Kalki helmed by debut director Praveen Prabharam, who was the chief associate of Second Show, Koothara and Theevandi. Prasobh Krishna is the producer of the film that is written by the director and Sujin Sujathan. “Kalki is the third project of Little Big Films. Its pre-production works will begin in October, while the shooting will start in December,” says Prasobh. While the film’s cinematography will be handled by Gautham Sankar, Renjith Kuzhur will handle the editing.
