It’s absolute mayhem on the set of V.K. Prakash’s (VKP) latest movie Poppins . The set is a modest apartment at a housing board flat at PTP Nagar, Thiruvananthapuram. Child artiste Nayan Thara, dressed in a pretty white frock, is complaining that her dress is too short. As there is no other dress for her to change into, she prepares for the shot only to find that she cannot find her shoes. VKP’s assistants in the meantime are busy trying to come up with a name for her character: Nithya, Naina, Pinky…, for the time being they decide on mol .
The scene being shot by cameraman Prateesh Varma has Nayan Thara waiting with her father, Hari, who is played by Shankar Ramakrishnan. The scene shows Hari yelling for his wife, Gouri, to hurry up as they will be late for the preview of his movie.
The film is based on a play written and scripted by playwright Jayaprakash Kuloor.
Says VKP: “ Poppins explores the emotional stories of four couples played by Anoop Menon-Ann Augustine, Jayasurya-Meghna Raj, Kunchacko Boban-Nithya Menen and Indrajith-Padmapriya. Each of the four couples sports a different look. The movie also explores the institution of marriage.”
Shankar plays a government servant who has quit his job to pursue his love for films. Says Shankar: “He is shooting a film and through this film he narrates the stories of these couples.”
Mythili plays Gouri, Hari’s all supportive wife. Says Mythili: “She knows how passionate Hari is about films and supports him through his struggles to make it as a filmmaker.”
Excited about working with VKP, she says: “VKP sir called me just three days ago to tell me about the role. As it is my first chance to work with VKP sir, I jumped at it. He is from a different film school and it is fun learning new aspects of film from him.”
The crew is busy setting up the next scene. Shankar, VKP and Jayaprakash are seen working on the dialogues for the upcoming scene. The scene has only Hari and Gouri in it. Hari is back from work. He gets apologetic when he realises he has forgotten it’s their wedding anniversary. They banter with each other, with Mythili delivering her humour-filled dialogues with a straight face.
Says VKP, who has just completed Trivandrum Lodge , which is expected to be out in September: “We will be shooting Poppins in Bangalore and Coorg too.”
But why Poppins as a title? Says VKP with a grin: “Because the film is as colourful and as flavoursome as the sweet it has been named after.”
Poppins is produced by Trends Ad Films. Music for the film is by Ratheesh Vega. Nithya Menen will be singing a song in the movie.
