Clad entirely in black, Veeramani comes out of his house, located at the very end of a secluded housing colony at Aanavathil in Mattanchery. His wife and daughter come out of the house to see him off. They wait till he walks out of the frame and then turn back into the house. It is a scene from still photographer-turned-director Aneesh Upasana's Seconds , with Jayasurya playing Veeramani and Anusree in the role of Parvathy, his wife.
“This is a thriller and the title refers to the fact that the incidents being narrated happen within a time frame. But there is another meaning to it which cannot be revealed now as the suspense has been reserved for the screen,” says Aneesh. He debuted in Mollywood with Matinee , which, did not set the box office ringing. Nonetheless, “it was a great learning experience and a fine start for a debutant,” says the director.
In Seconds , four strangers happen to be at a particular place when an incident happens. An insurance agent, Veeramani, a sales manager, Teena (Aparna Nair), a wedding photographer, Feroze (Vinay Forrt), and an unemployed youth from Fort Kochi, Thampi (Vinayakan), are the four. “The story unveils the point of view of these characters,” says the director. Shankar Ramakrishnan and Salim Kumar are also in the cast.
Cinematographer Suresh Rajan, who shot to fame with the short film Bridge from the Kerala Café anthology, gets ready for a crane shot as Veeramani walks along a cemented path, flanked by a row of houses. Jayasurya sports a paunch and there are some visible changes in his body language too. “It is to suit his character,” explains Aneesh, pointing to the visuals on the monitor.
Jayasurya adds: “My character belongs to a traditional Brahmin family and he gets unexpectedly caught in a particular incident. From the minute go, the excitement begins in the film. Since we don’t want our viewers to miss out on even a second, we are planning to put in the posters that this film needs to be watched right from the first scene.”
The actor, who will be seen in Philips & the Monkey Pen releasing next week, turns producer with Punyalan Agarbathis , releasing at the end of November.
“Producing a film has been a wonderful experience. It has been a great team effort, with everyone improvising on what was written in the script. It is a clean entertainer,” says Jayasurya.
Anusree, who is wearing a sari, says: “I am playing a homemaker, who may, at first, appear to be somewhat similar to my character in Diamond Necklace but she is quite different. Like Veeramani, Parvathy too is very traditional.” The actress has completed three films, Vedi Vazhipadu , Naku Penta Naku Taka and Angry Babies .
Seconds is being produced under the banner of Achoos International. Gopi Sundar scores the music. Stills are by Anoop Upasana.
