The man who is known for his Midas touch is set to turn his next movie to gold at the box office. V.K. Prakash (VKP) the man who has brought back-to-back sleeper hits – Beautiful and Trivandrum Lodge – is planning a hat trick with his upcoming movie Poppins .
Known for his movies that are of different genres and themes be it Punaradivasam , about a live-in relationship, Beautiful about a quadriplegic or Trivandrum Lodge about the lives of inmates of a lodge, VKP promises Poppins will be a movie that is as “colourful and flavoursome” as the sweet it’s named after. “I enjoy experimenting with genres and themes. Poppins is a pure family entertainer that will bring a smile to the faces of the audience.” says VKP.
The movie, which stars 10 lead actors as five couples – Shankar Ramakrishnan and Mythili; Indrajith and Padmapriya; Kunchacko Boban and Nithya Menen; Siddique and Ann Augustine and Jayasurya and Meghna Raj – is based on Jayaprakash Kuloor’s plays.
Poppins is about a government employee, Hari, played by Shankar, whose long cherished dream is to turn into a filmmaker. He finally takes a break from work and decides to start work on a movie. Says VKP: “While his struggles as a film maker are a part of the film, the focus however, is on the various shades of the institution of marriage as the cameras by Jomon T. John, Arun V. James and Pratheesh Verma zoom into the lives of the couples in the film and their relationships. These tales are set in different time periods and make-up man Roshan has done a fantastic job of transforming the looks of the lead actors in the movie. The movie, which has been shot in places such as Ramnagara, where Sholay was shot, Thiruvananthapuram and Bangalore, is a journey through stories and has a ‘Kuloorian’ touch as Jayaprakash Kuloor has scripted the play himself.”
The movie, which is laced with tongue-in-cheek humour, is also a musical. There are six songs by Ratheesh Vega in the movie. “The songs are part of the narration of the movie. I love music, especially Malayalam film music. Whenever I make a movie, I try to ensure the songs stay in the minds of the audience and hence work closely with the music composer. That is why songs such as ‘Mazhaneer thullikal’ ( Beautiful ), ‘Kilikal parannatho’ and ‘Kanninullil nee kanmani’ ( Trivandrum Lodge ) are still topping music charts. In fact, ‘Payasam’, a song rendered by Nithya Menen, and ‘Kannadi’, a song delivered by P. Jayachandran for Poppins are making waves on YouTube.”
One is curious however, as to why the tagline of Poppins says ‘No sex, no violence…only smiles. No spice, no masala, only sugar’. Is it the director’s indirect way of taking a dig at those who found Trivandrum Lodge , a tale of love, lust and longing, a tad in-your-face? Laughs VKP: “No. Work on Poppins had begun even before Trivandrum Lodge hit the screens. The tagline is so because those words best describe the movie.”
The self-confessed workaholic is currently busy with his next film, Netholi Oru Cheriya Meen Alla . Work on the film, which stars Fahadh Faasil and Kamalini Mukherjee, is on at Aluva. The movie has been scripted by Shankar Ramakrishnan and has Fahadh in a double role. “ Netholi… is on the conflict between a writer and his characters and it is a triangular love story. It stars quite a few new faces.” And while VKP is hoping Netholi… will hit theatres by January, he is currently looking forward to Poppinsreaching theatres on November 30 .
