Samskrithi, attired in her school uniform, is riding her bicycle. Niranj, also in uniform and on a bicycle, is trying to catch up with her and strike a conversation. These fresh faces in Mollywood were rehearsing for a shot for producer M.Renjith’s directorial debut, Black Butterflies , along the lanes of Jawahar Nagar in the capital city.
They play Arathy and Deepak, Plus Two students. “The movie is about how the emotion called love is treated by different people and the turmoil that follows. There is Deepak and Arathy, both from affluent families. Deepak courts Arathy, only to gain her trust and, finally, cheats her. He misuses technology (read mobile phone) to serve his purpose. On the other hand, there is the sincere affection between Benny (Midhun Murali), who is employed at a petrol pump, and Reena (Malavika Sai), a domestic maid. The lives of these two pairs intersect at one point of the story,” says Renjith.
The director stresses that it would be wrong to call it a remake of Vazhakku Enn 18/9 , the critically-acclaimed Tamil movie, as has been reported.
“It is loosely based on the Tamil movie. It is not possible to place the Tamil movie in our milieu. There is a lot of difference between the two,” he adds.
Midhun, who has acted in Vazhakku Enn 18/9 (he was cast in the negative role), too asserts that Black Butterflies isn’t a remake of the Tamil movie. A student of Adi Shankara Institue of Science and Technology, Kalady, he took his first steps in tinsel town in Vajram (remember the boy in the song ‘Madathakkili…’) and has acted in movies such as Ayurrekha and Chandranilekkoru Vazhi . Malavika, a class nine student of Toc-H School, Vytilla, who enacts Reena, made a brief appearance in Anwar Rasheed’s Ustad Hotel .
The movie marks the debut of Niranj, actor-producer Maniyanpillai Raju’s son, and Samskrithi, a class nine student, a model. Niranj, who appeared at ease playing the spoilt youngster, says he had no qualms about the negative shades in his character. “I don’t have a problem, since the character has got its own strength. It has a good script and there is enough scope to perform.”
Samskrithi has also acted in an upcoming flick, My Fan Ramu . The presence of ace cinematographer Azhagappan in the crew is a bonus, Renjith says.
Azhagappan, meanwhile, shows us a scene he has shot using the Gopro camera. “It is a compact HD camera and is used to shoot difficult scenes,” he says. Samir (played by Ganapathi), Benny’s friend, is trying in vain to ride the latter’s bicycle and Benny is running after him. “In fact, we’ve used cameras of different digital formats in the movie. There are scenes shot using the iPhone as well,” says Azhagappan.
Renjith, who started off as a producer nearly two decades ago, says that he has always wanted to direct.
“I've tried the same in some of my productions. Friends in the industry such as Maniyanpillai Raju and Jagadeesh also encouraged me to take up the challenge,” he adds.
Also in the cast are Muthuraman (who repeats his role as the police officer in Vazhakku Enn 18/9 ), Janardanan, Sukumari and Kunchan.
Screenplay is by J.Pallassery and music has been composed by M.G.Sreekumar. The movie, produced by Maniyanpillai Raju Productions, is slated to release on January 18, 2013. Stills are by Mahadevan Thampy.
