Ranjith Sankar enjoys telling stories of modern-day Davids and Goliaths. Ranging from corrupt politicians and supercilious bureaucrats to nosy relatives and supernatural beings, his Goliaths have appeared in different avatars. In his latest film, Ramante Edenthottam , the techie-turned-filmmaker travels to the woods for a different kind of a relationship story. The Goliaths, in this case, appear to be prejudices and fears in our mind and outlook.
Ranjith has come up with a script about a globetrotter-turned-environmentalist who is into growing urban forests.
Ranjith Sankar
“It analyses relationships today and how one person, extremely successful in his professional life, decides to walk away from it all to be with nature. He has created more than 32 urban forests and is in the process of creating another when a woman, seemingly from another world of apartments and metros, walks into his sylvan living space. The movie captures the way in which each of them evolve over a period of time and how they influence each other,” narrates Ranjith, over the phone.
He says the heroine Malini, enacted by Anu Sithara, is a complete contrast to the reclusive Raman, essayed by Kunchacko Boban. The movie, agrees Ranjith, has a deep personal connection with his life. He recalls that after his remarkable debut, Passenger , Ranjith, then still an employee with an IT major, had visited serene Nelliyampathy for a break. Struck by its peaceful ambience and rustic charm, he knew then that he wanted to make a film there.
Misty Nelliyampathy
Brooding trees, misty mountains and curving paths that veered away from towns and cities caught his imagination. “I knew then that the work would either be a love story or a horror movie. I met a resort owner and a driver working there and their lifestyle choices stayed with me all these years,” he says, with a laugh.
Eight years and many films later, Ranjith says he could not have shot his Eden in Nelliyampathy as the city has made inroads in the form of pucca roads, buildings and eateries. Keen on finding the kind of place he had in mind, he went location hunting all over South India and had almost decided to shoot outside Kerala, when music director Bijibal told him to try a particular resort in Vagamon. That was where Bijibal had stayed while composing the music for Munthirivallikkal Thalirkkumbol .
“I thought I knew Vagamon very well but this was cut away from the usual tourist circuit in the hills. As soon as I drove into the road that leads to the resort, I knew I had found my location. It was just like as I had visualised it....no internet coverage, a kaccha road where you had to park your vehicle and then wait for an all-purpose vehicle to reach the resort... the hills, the waterbody.... it was perfect,” says the filmmaker.
Ranjith was equally fastidious about the characters in the film.
Ranjith’s post on Facebook about Kunchacko playing Raman says it all: “I love it when stars go on a break in a pursuit to reinvent themselves. Think most of my good films and characters happened in such pursuits.. When I narrated raman [Raman] to this man first thing he told me was that he will need 3 months to prepare for the part.. to get in shape physically and mentally. .And that he won't be shooting anything else in those 3 months. . That’s such a confidence boost for any film maker. To Malini He is Ram.. To Elvis He is Raman.. And His Eden Thottam is special.. Kunchacko Boban plays HIM.”
While the hero did not require much of a search, Ranjith had to wait to find the right heroine to play Malini.
“As with the place, I had a certain image in my mind and I wanted someone who matched that image. It was not easy but then again when I met Anu Sithara, it was easy to visualise her as Malini, a city-bred women who is more at home in urban spaces. The film is about what happens when this young woman meets Raman, who has had enough of city lights,” says Ranjith.
The director says that the film is not just a boy-meets-girl story for the simple reason that the ‘boy’ happens to be in his forties. It is for the first time that Kunchacko is playing his actual age on screen and he was extremely happy about playing someone close to his age.
Experimentation pays
In his second innings in tinsel town, Kunchacko has been experimenting with roles and his looks. And it has paid him rich dividends in the shape of some interesting and memorable roles that went beyond the chocolate hero that he used to enact with élan in his first innings in Mollywood.
“Both Kunchacko and Anu lived their roles. The characters of Raman and Malini evolve after their meeting and the film traces the path of their relationship,” says the director.
Aju Varghese, Muthumani, Joju George, Sreejith Ravi and Ramesh Pisharody are in the cast.
Scripted and produced by Ranjith under the banner of Dreams N Beyond, he says that it was mainly inspired by the work of Japanese urban forest maker Akira Miyasaki. With songs by Bijibal and cinematography by Madhu Neelakandan, the film will reach cinemas on Friday.
