Adithyan Chandrashekar may have achieved a casting coup when he got Suraj Venjarmoodu, Basil Joseph and Saiju Kurup for his debut feature film, Enkilum Chandrike, but the 28-year-old mechanical engineer-turned-director wondered if he would be able to call the shots on the sets while working with such experienced stars.
“While working on web series, I had the liberty to demand what I wanted from my actors. I was worried whether I could do the same with these actors,” he says.
Adithya had earlier worked on web series with the Kariku team and also produced a series of Youtube content. Karikku Fliq’s YouTube series Rock Paper Scissors, a thrillerdirected by him, had narrated the story of three women staying together in an apartment in Kochi and trying to balance their lives while living away from home.
Working with the experienced film actors, he says, put him on a learning curve. “They were open to my suggestions and cooperative. The fact that they trusted me was overwhelming for a new feature film director like me. We had a wonderful time on the sets,” says Adithyan.
After a fairly long break, Enkilum Chandrike has Suraj in a light-hearted film with dollops of humour. “For some time now, we have only seen Suraj ettan in serious roles. In this, we will see him again in a comedy,” says the director.
Adithyan says that as soon as Suraj read the script written by him and Arjun Narayanan, the actor agreed to be in the film. The scenarists worked for more than 18 months on the script before they locked in on the final script.
Adithyan Chandrashekar on the sets of his debut feature film Enkilum Chandrike, which was shot in Kannur | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
“The film revolves around an imaginary rural place called Koodanthonda, a club in that village and and a series of incidents that revolve around the marriage of the lead character Chandrika, played by Niranjana Anoop. It’s a feel-good film,” adds Adithyan. Tanvi Ram and Abhiram Ramakrishnan are also in the cast.
Of late, Malayalam cinema has seen a spate of films centred on marriages and engagements. Adithyan insists Enkilum Chandrike has a different trajectory, with no resemblance to marriage-based movies in the past. “My story is set in a make-believe village in North Malabar. Even the number plates of vehicles there begin with KT and not KL as in Kerala. The dialect, the people and the situations make it very different from previous films that hinged on marriages and related functions,” says the director.
(from left) Tanvi Ram, Niranjana Anoop, Adithyan Chandrashekar, Aswin and Basil Joseph. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Shot in Payyannur in Kannur, where the director hails from, the film’s work began in July and was completed by August, almost in one schedule.
Enkilum Chandrike releases on February 17.
