There is relief, excitement and nervousness in Ratheish Kumar’s voice as his directorial debut, Thrissivaperoor Kliptham, reaches theatres this week. The trailer, the cast, the music, and, above all, the Thrissur flavour have already piqued viewers’ interest and Ratheish hopes he doesn’t disappoint any of them.
“It is the fulfilment of a dream that I have been nurturing for the last four to five years,” says the filmmaker with a decade-long stint in the industry, working with Lohithadas, Lijo Jose Pellisherry and Kamal. The movie’s journey to the marquee was rocky because there was every possibility of it remaining in the cans. “We had completed the shoot last November. But demonetisation threw us out of gear and it took many months for us to take it to the theatres. Actually, that’s why we went for some out-of-the-box ideas for promotions,” he says.
Ratheish Kumar, director of Thrissivaperoor Kliptham
It is getting released close on the heels of another movie, Sidharth Bharathan’s Varnyathil Aashanka , which also has Thrissur written all over it. But Ratheish seems unperturbed by that. “It is mere coincidence. Ultimately the success of a movie depends on the quality of the product, irrespective of where it is based in,” he says.
Without revealing much about the subject, Ratheish says that Thrissivaperoor..., scripted by P.S. Rafeeque, tells the story of certain incidents that happen in and around the famous Swaraj Round in Thrissur or Round as local residents call it. It is not about a hero or heroine; some scattered incidents lead to a serious situation.
Thrissur itself is a star in the movie. “I hail from Kochi, but I was sure that this story could unfold only within the limits of Thrissur district. The people of Thrissur have a tendency to find a dash of humour in the most sombre situations. I can’t thank enough the people of Thrissur for their cooperation. But for them we could not have shot an important fight sequence in the busy Shakthan market. Also, we decided on the title after seeing a nameboard of an old bank bearing the word ‘Kliptham’ in a dilapidated building,” he says.
Stellar cast
The story happens in the lives of a group of schoolmates. The protagonists, all students of the same school, were divided into two factions — the front benchers and the back benchers. They are still at loggerheads. The front bench gang is led by the affluent Joy Chembadan (Baburaj) and the back bench team is headed by David Pauly (Chemban Vinod Jose), who runs a studio.
A still from Thrissivaperoor Kliptham
Irshad, Achuthanandan, Dr. Rony, Sreejith Ravi, Aby, Zarina Wahab and T.G. Ravi also play prominent roles. Asif Ali’s character Girijavallabhan is new to Thrissur. He is trying to build a macho image by joining a gang in town.
Asif Ali and Nandu in Thrissivaperoor Kliptham
Aparna Balamurali essays Bhageerathy, a spunky auto driver. Twenty new faces have also acted in the movie.
Aparna Balamurali in Thrissivaperoor Kliptham
“We had to make several changes from the original cast we had planned. I had thought about the movie four years ago and when it got delayed we had to go for new actors,” says Ratheish, who was active in amateur theatre circuit.
He was part of Celebrations, a theatre group in Kochi, and the plays he directed for college teams won prizes at youth festivals. “I wanted to be an actor, but very soon I realised that I was not cut out for that. Also I felt that direction gave you more creative satisfaction. A friend introduced me to Lohithadas sir and thus I started my career in films assisting him,” he says.
It was his friendship with Rafeeque, who has scripted Nayakan, Amen and Utopiayile Rajavu , that led to Thrissivaperoor... “We met on the sets of Amen . His writing is fresh and he handles humour in a different way. Rafeeque has also written four songs in the movie,” Ratheish says.
He also makes special note of the music by Bijibal. “He has given us some fun-filled numbers that go with the flavour of the movie. I was the newcomer on the set and the presence of experienced people like Bijibal, Swaroop Philip (cinematography) and Shameer Mohammed (editing) made my work easy,” he signs off.
