Filmmakers crossing borders to make movies in another language is not unheard of. Except, it has taken Nissar, the Malayalam filmmaker with 25 movies to his credit, more than 25 years to try his hand in Tamil cinema. He only offers a smile in return when quizzed about this rather late entry.
Nissar’s 26th film, his first in Tamil, is titled Colours , and stars Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Ineya, Divya Pillai, Ramkumar, ‘Mottai’ Rajendran and Bala Saravanan among others.
Filming for Colours was completed in March, just before lockdown, and having finished the post-production work after lockdown restrictions were relaxed by the Government of Tamil Nadu, the film is now ready for release. “It will soon be sent to the Censor Board for certification,” says Nissar.
Produced by UAE-based Aji Idicula for Limelight Pictures, Colours ’ story, screenplay and dialogues were penned by Prasad Parapuram, a Crime Branch police officer attached to Aluva circle in Kochi, Kerala.
“Prasad had also written the story for two of my previous films, Two Days and Laughing Apartment Near Girinagar . Piraichoodan did the Tamil translation,” Nissar adds.
Varalaxmi Sarathkumar with Ramkumar
A “clean, family drama”, the filmmaker says Colours follows the stories of three female leads: Varalaxmi (who plays a gym trainer and a martial artiste), Ineya (who plays an NRI woman) and Divya Pillai (who plays a housewife).
“Ramkumar, who is [actor] Sarathkumar’s nephew, makes his debut in the film,” says Nissar, adding, “Each character’s life has its own colourful story arc, which is why we named the film such.”
The film’s producer, Aji Idicula, connecting over phone, for whom it is also the first time venturing into featuring film production, says that he had wanted to commit to a Hindi film. “But we found this subject very interesting. Our discussions made it clear that the subject would work well with the Tamil audience,” he says.
Divya Pillai in a still from ‘Colours’
However, unlike most producers in Tamil cinema at the moment, Aji is hopeful of his film obtaining a theatrical release, should cinema halls be allowed to open towards the end of October in Tamil Nadu.
“In the event of reduced occupancy, we believe that it is possible to extend the number of days our film will be allowed to run in theatres,” says Aji, adding that the fact remains there is a “content lag” of about one year’s time in the market, a situation that he believes will work favourably for small and medium budget producers.
“In case there is no clarity on when theatres will open, then we can always explore OTT platforms.”
On opting to cast a debutant hero, Aji remarks that his production company had faith in the abilities of the director to extract the newcomer’s potential. “It is only when the director is unwilling to do that does such a gamble result in a loss. Nissar has spent many years as a filmmaker and he has a track record of working with newcomers and delivering the best output,” he adds.
