Early on a Sunday morning at the Karaparamba-Kunduparamba Bypass Road in Kozhikode, an autorickshaw named ‘Superstar’ attracts quite a few eyeballs. Anoop Chandran, dressed in a khaki shirt, is at the wheel of the auto and Kavya Madhavan, wearing maroon-and-green salwar-kameez, with her hair in a ponytail, is the passenger.
The duo are shooting a scene for Breaking News , the directorial debut of Sudheer Ambalappat, a seasoned ad filmmaker.
Sudheer takes another close look at the monitor, even as Anoop and Kavya rehearse their scene. Kavya ensures her make-up is perfect and she is ready for the shot. As the camera rolls, the auto begins to move. The shot is canned in a jiffy.
Relevant subject
Breaking News will be Kavya’s first film after Vellaripravinte Changathi , which released last December. “There has been a fairly long gap but that was because I wanted to do only films that have something substantial for me as an actor. I must have read at least 50 scripts during the last five months, but very few interested me. I have decided to do this film because my character enthused me when it was narrated to me by the director, whom I have known for a long time, having acted in some of his ad films,” says Kavya.
She is confident that the film and her character, Nayana, a hotel management student, will be noticed. “It is a relevant film in today’s society. Nayana is a girl who witnesses a heinous crime and her life changes after that,” she says.
The director says he chose such a subject for his first film because he wanted to tackle a serious issue that could be presented in an entertaining way. “The film is about the value of a person’s life. It is also about how the society looks at a crime. The film is shot from Nayana’s point of view; I am glad that I got Kavya to do her role. She is perfect for it,” explains Sudheer.
Vineeth is paired opposite Kavya; he plays a lecturer at the hotel management institute where she studies. “I have always enjoyed working with Vineeth. And it is after a while that I am sharing the screen with him; the last time we worked together was in Banares . He always inspires me to act and dance,” says Kavya.
Mythili plays another significant role. She acts as Sneha, a working woman whom Nayana meets during a train journey. Sneha is the victim of a crime that makes breaking news on television channels.
The shoot on the road continues. “Nayana often travels by this auto, whose driver, Sunny, aspires to be an actor,” explains Sudheer.
Anoop says he has learnt how to drive auto fairly well. “Mine is an interesting character; Sunny never misses an opportunity to be in front of a camera. If there is a live shooting of a news event, he will ensure that his face is in the frame and call up his wife to ask her switch on the television,” he says.
Mamukoya, Devan, Sukumari, Lakshmi Sharma and Urmila Unni are also in the cast. Muralikrishnan, who shot the National-award winning ‘Byari’, is the cinematographer.
Lyrics by Premadas Iruvallur have been tuned by Mohan Sithara. Stills are by Aneesh Upasana.
Breaking News , produced by Ranjith Kumar under the banner of News Value Productions, will reach cinemas in August.
