Two rooms on the first floor of Cherupushpam Studio at Udayamperoor in Kochi have been converted into the interiors of a modest living quarters of policemen. As the music starts, a group of policemen in mufti fling the door open and walk into the room hefting several packets of fruits. It’s the location for debutant director Linson Antony’s Housefull , with Tini Tom and Jyothirmayi in the lead.
Ananthan (Tini Tom), a traffic constable from a village, works in the city. The 36-year-old cop is so desperate to get married that he spends most of his free time searching for a suitable woman. Emily (Jyothirmayi) is from the same village and works in the city as a salesgirl in a textile shop. Ananthan and Emily have been acquaintances for long but have not thought about tying the knot. In fact, she even offers to help him when he wants to propose to one of her friends. Later, despite belonging to different religions and despite their families forbidding the union, they decide to get married in the hope that their families would relent once they have a kid.
But fate has other things in store for them and Emily fails to conceive. Finally, after a long drawn out fertility treatment, she gives birth to quadruplets! The couple’s lives go topsy-turvy.
“The birth of the quadruplets land the couple in difficulties and from then on they face some tough times. Eventually, though, they realise that it is a blessing,” says Linson Antony, who has directed several devotional videos.
The shot being taken is part of a ‘song cut’, where a grinning Ananthan is holding a bunch of grapes and exchanging pleasantries with his fellow constables. The shot ends as Emily comes into the room from the kitchen and joins the group.
“The others have come to the couple’s quarters to share their joy after hearing about her pregnancy,” explains the director as the crew captures some close-ups from a different angle.
This is Tini’s debut role in the lead. “It’s a feel-good, light-hearted movie, which narrates why we should take on difficult times with a positive frame of mind,” says Tini, who has made the switch from mimicry stages to movies with some impressive performances over the past couple of years. “I have struggled a lot in real life and have done a lot hard work to reach where I am today. Of course, playing the lead makes me tense but then this character is not a larger-than-life hero and suits me perfectly,” says Tini, whose roles in films such as Pranchiyettan & the Saint , Indian Rupee , Beautiful , Spirit and Friday were well appreciated.
Jyothirmayi, who was recently seen in films such as Urava and Sthalam, says: “Parenting four toddlers of the same age at the same time is as tough as it is endearing. We all realised the practical difficulties of it right at the beginning itself, during the initial photo shoot! That’s why most of the situations highlighted in the movie are genuine.”
Housefull is being produced under the banner of Movie Masters. Vijayaraghavan, Bhagat Manuel, Shammi Thilakan and Manraj also play major roles. Neil D' Cunha is the cinematographer. Music directors are Sejo John and Ram Surendar. Stills are by Sajeer.