With a group of protestors standing in the way of a JCB that's about to demolish a house, the mood at the location appears pretty tense. The action is on the premises of a house near the NGO quarters at Kakkanadu in Kochi, which is the location for director Viji Thampy's ‘Nadodi Mannan.'
As Dileep leads the mob, a defiant Ananya comes forward from the group in a frantic effort to save her modest house from being demolished. The director okays the rehearsal and the shot is canned in the first take itself.
“Padmanabhan (Dileep) earns a living by participating in demonstrations for various political parties. He has no political affiliations, though his father used to be an idealistic politician. Padmanabhan comes to Thiruvananthapuram from Palakkad, and due to certain unprecedented circumstances he is forced to stay in the city. Eventually he becomes the city's mayor,” narrates the director.
In high spirits
The shots that follow are some close ups of the lead actors and once it has been canned, the unit breaks for lunch. Dileep sportingly poses for photographs with some of the onlookers who come forward to exchange pleasantries with the star.
The actor, who is in high spirits as his role in ‘Mayamohini' has been well received, says: “I am happy that my hard work has been appreciated by viewers. ‘Nadodi Mannan' is a social satire but it's being told in a humorous way.”He has started shooting for the next schedule of 'Mr.Marumakan', which has been the in the making for a while now.
Ananya is all excited about her character called Meera, “who lives in difficult surroundings, but is bold.”
She feels that the previous scene where she had to jump in front of a moving JCB was quite thrilling. “I have done such challenging scenes in ‘Shikaar' but this one was cool,” smiles the actor.
Notable roles
Archana Kavi and Mythili are the other heroines in ‘Nadodi Mannan.'
“While Archana plays Aathira, a member of a former royal family, Mythili stars as Rima, a broadcast journalist Padmanabhan befriends during his activist days. She helps him bring to light certain crucial issues before the public,” says the director.
Bollywood actor Sayaji Shinde plays the local king pin who is at odds with Padmanabhan. He has played certain notable roles in Telugu and Tamil, but makes his entry into Malayalam with this film. The cast includes Nedumudi Venu, Janardhanan, Salim Kumar and Suraj Venjarammoodu.
‘Nadodi Mannan' is being produced under the banner of Chithram Films. Scenarist is Krishna Poojappura. Cinematography is by Sanjeev Sankar and music is by Vidyasagar.
Still photographer is Mahadevan Thampy.
