Marivillin Gopurangal is a film that is “entirely different from Luca. It is a light-hearted entertainer from the beginning till the end,” says Arun Bose of his second directorial. His directorial debut, Luca, is a tough act to follow, but he is confident that Marivillin Gopurangal will get the same love at the box office.
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Starring Indrajith, Shruti Ramachandran, Vincy Alosious and Sarjano Khalid in lead roles, the film is about what happens when two married couples share a space. “The marriages are not dysfunctional; they are happily married. There is conflict, confusion and humour. If I were to pick a genre it would be a fun family drama, a feel-good entertainer. The humour is situational and organic, not forced at all,” Arun adds.
Though Arun co-wrote the story with Lalitham Sundaramwriter Pramod Mohan. “Indrajith’s character, Shinto, is an ambitious professional, while Sherin (Shruti Ramachandran) runs a small business. Shinto’s brother, Ronny, and partner, Meenakshi start living with them. The story would be relatable to any ‘micro family’!” he says.
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He is happy with how the film has turned out, and with how the actors have delivered. “Shinto’s character is in Indrajith, it was effortless for him. He has great comic timing and he is perfect as Shinto. I call Shruti the Charlie Chaplin of the set, she has a certain goofiness to her which we have tapped into. Vincy’s scale (as an actor) is always high, I just needed to get it to our tempo. Her Meenakshi is loud, and the catalyst for the action. Sarjano as Ronny too has done a great job…their styles are varied yet they have delivered as a cohesive whole. ” He is glad that he had script-reading sessions with the actors; which gave him an idea of the chemistry the actors shared, “that is very important for the film.”
Marivillin Gopurangal, he confesses, was not an easy film to make as comedy as a genre is hard. He underscores the fact that humour in the film is not forced.Comedy runs the risk of devolving into forced humour, Arun has been careful about how it is handled in the film.
He had been wanting to make a comedy that is “a cinematic/visual drama, which is more than skit-like. This looks like a huge film because it is a visual drama. It should be experienced in a movie theatre. The movie caters to adults and kids alike; child actor Vasisth Umesh (Josemon in Minnal Murali), whose role I cannot reveal, has an important role and he and Indrajith are great together.”
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The others in the cast include Saikumar and Bindu Panicker. The cinematographer is Symaprakash MS, editing by Arun and Shaijal PV, and production design by Anees Nadodi.
Arun has pulled a coup of sorts getting Vidyasagar to compose. He speaks excitedly about getting the veteran composer on board. “Vidyasagar sir has experimented with the sound, using traditional instruments such as shehnai, ghatom and others to score music for the film which has an urban setting.”
Luca, made in 2019, starring Tovino Thomas and Ahaana Krishna was Arun’s breakout feature film. The film ran for 98 days in theatres, a feat, by current standards. Even today he gets a lot of feedback about it.
He is sure Marivillin Gopurangal will meet expectations, drawing a parallel with a meal well made he says, “Watching it, will give the satisfaction of a good meal. Satisfaction guaranteed.”
Arun’s plans for the future include the release of the Unni Mukundan-Aparna Balamurali film Mindiyum Paranjum.