Success has not shackled Lal Jose to the predictable. He consistently breaks away from clichés and formulas to give shape to narratives that create trends and map lifestyles of the Malayali in transition. And all this is achieved without losing out on the entertainment factor. Nevertheless, for 19 years, Lal had to answer the same question: ‘So when are you working with Mohanlal?’
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“ Velipadinte Pusthakam (VP) is that film,” says Lal Jose over phone. Admitting that great expectations about the film were creating tense moments for him, he emphasises that he enjoyed the movie and its making, and the fact that it’s a story that has not been seen before on the screen.
A teacher’s role
Mohanlal plays Michael Idiculla, newly-appointed vice-principal in a college in a coastal village. Lal says the movie is about a teacher’s moment of epiphany, when Idiculla realises the scope and duty of a teacher. “It was not an easy film to make. Firstly, VP makes no concessions to image and secondly, the movie had to stay true to its theme without diluting the entertainer that the film is,” he explains.
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Naturally, he is reluctant to reveal the storyline but says that it is a complete campus film that moves outside the campus only when the students set out to shoot a film on their own. “Idiculla is not the conventional teacher who frowns upon anything modern and tech-driven. On the contrary, he insists that students and teachers must learn to make the most of technology and use it in the right way. For instance, he encourages students to bring their mobile phones to the college and put it to good use instead of sneaking it in for nefarious purposes,” says Lal.
“When you are working with an actor with nearly four decades of experience, it is tough to conceptualise a character he has not done before; it is not easy to come up with dialogues you have not heard him say before; it is tougher still to narrate a story that has not been told. But Benny P. Nayarambalam has been able to do that and it is the character he visualised that enthused the filmmaker in me,” explains Lal.
Like many film directors, Lal admits that working with Mohanlal was an experience in itself. Although he quietly listened to the story and script, Lal says he was astonished by the actor’s interpretation of the script and the depths to which he had plunged into the character.
“I am a Lal fan and so when I suggested the way certain scenes could be taken, it was the star himself who advised me to hold back those moments and save it for a later period and not to play to his image,” recalls the director.
The multi-starrer, shot by Vishnu Sharma, has Priyanka Nair, Anna Reshma Rajan, Anoop Menon, Siddique, Sarath Kumar, Salim Kumar, Alencier Ley Lopez, Kalabhavan Shajon and Arun Kurien in the cast. Music has been composed by Shaan Rahman.
The filmmaker explains that although VP is a multi-starrer, each character has a definite identity and experiential curve in the story.
Anna Reshma Rajan of Angamaly Diaries fame plays a professor, Mary, in the film while Priyanka appears as a homemaker from the fishing community.
As the film reaches cinemas, Lal has a request for film buffs: “Watch it with an open mind. Don’t go by past narratives and images.” As usual, Lal is mapping new territory.