A young woman’s mysterious death on the railway tracks and a police investigation into her death become the background for a relationship drama that explores nuances of a man-woman relationship.
After the critically acclaimed Ithramatram , filmmaker K Gopinathan returns to the marquee with Samarppanam , his second feature film in Malayalam. Referring to the film as a psychological thriller, he explains that the movie goes beyond the dynamics of an investigative film and delves into the niceties of human bonds. “We do reveal why she is dead and how and all that in the conventional sense. But Samarppanam does not stop with that. The three main protagonists involved in the case journey through their own emotional terrain and that is the mainstay of the movie. It also highlights the insecure environment that a woman lives in today.”
Scripted by debutant Thara Ramanujan, the script went through several stages of reworking before the film went on the floors. “She is a Malayali settled in the United States. She had several stories with her and when she approached me with those stories, I felt this was the best that could be adapted for a feature film.”
Santhosh Keezhattoor plays Chandrakant, the police officer in charge of the investigation, Kannada theatre actor Virginia Rodriguez enacts Sarvajaya, the doctor who does the autopsy, while Anil Nedumangad essays the role of an Ayurveda practitioner Aravind who runs a clinic where the young woman was working.
Changing equations
“Although Aravind is married, he is living away from his wife while both Chandrakant and Saravajaya are unmarried. Changing equations among the three lead actors depict a subtle gender picture and their relationships keep changing as the case progresses,” narrates Gopinathan. He emphasises the film is female-centric but does not detract from the fact that it is a psychological drama and thriller. The only reason why he chose to cast Virginia was because he wanted someone with a strong personality to play the doctor. As he points out, such doctors come under tremendous pressure from powerful people in society. “I needed someone who would not seem to wilt under that pressure. I also wanted to move away from a familiar face and that’s when I decided to look in the world of theatre,” says Gopinathan. He adds that Sarvajaya is a Malayali who is not quite at home in Malayalam as she is of mixed parentage. So the filmmaker made it a point to teach her Malayalam so that she would speak her own lines for the entire film that uses sync sound. “Thus her accent did not prove to be a handicap. She has come up with a compelling performance,” he adds.
Gopalan, Indrans, P Balachandran and Renji Panicker are also in the cast. Manesh Madhavan is the cinematographer. Produced by Sunil Kumar D under the banner of Silver Horse Films Production, the movie releases today.
