“I’m in love with Wagamon,” says director Rajeevnath about the locale in which the story of his film David and Goliath unfolds. And looking around, one isn’t surprised. The mist, tea plantations set against hills and a clear blue sky… the scene is indeed picture perfect.
The location for the day is an old factory in the midst of a tea estate. Jayasurya and Anoop Menon, who play the lead roles in the movie, are in attendance. The next shot has the camera taking a close shot of Jayasurya’s.
“This tea estate, in which the story unfolds, has a long history. Several decades ago, Christian workers had to travel quite a bit to attend mass on Sundays. To help them, a church was built right in the midst of the plantation. The main backdrop of the story is the church. David (Jayasurya) is an orphan who grew up in the church. Sunny Ulahannan (Anoop Menon) is part of the rich group in the area,” says Rajeevnath.
He adds: “Anoop and I were planning on working on a film titled Oru New York Sayahnam . However, as that didn’t take place, Anoop narrated this storyline and I liked it,” he says.
According to Anoop, who is the scenarist of the movie as well, his script for David and Goliath is a modern-day interpretation of the biblical tale.
“Such tales, which are there in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata too, have an underlying message in them – the fight between the haves and the have-nots. However, there has been a paradigm shift now. When once the powerful dominated, now the powerless have an advantage. Although I can’t reveal much about the characters as it affects the novelty of the story when it comes on screen, this film is my interpretation of the story and its philosophy,” says Anoop.
Jayasurya adds: “The innocent and virtuous David has some extraordinary skills, although he is not formally educated. The priest has been a strong influence in his life.” Soumya, an engineering graduate who was working as an assistant director, makes her debut in cinema playing the female lead in this film. “Sharon, my character, is the youngest of the four girls in her family and she has known David for years now,” says Soumya. Soumya will be joining Jayasurya for the next shot.
Soumya was spotted by Jayasurya who saw her in a music video titled Mazahnilavil . The song was from Prahlad Gopakumar’s album called ‘Oru Naal’. He asked her to contact Rajeevnath. “I wanted a chance to assist him. However, now, not only am I donning a role in the film, I am also assisting the director. Although I am enjoying this stint as an actor, I want to become a director,” she says.
David & Goliath is being made under the banner of Chaya Films. P. Balachandran, Anumol, Lena, Sukumari and Indrans are in the cast. Jithu Damodar is the cinematographer. Ratheesh Vega has composed the music. Still photographer is Shijas Abbas.
