Vishu has traditionally been a season that provides rich pickings for Malayalam cinema. It is no different this time around. Some big banners will be battling it out at the marquee. And one of the biggest ones at cinemas this year is Kammara Sambhavam , directed by debutant Rathish Ambat and scripted by Murali Gopy.
Rathish was willing to wait four years for his maiden directorial venture to start rolling. When actor-writer Murali spoke to him about a story he had in his mind, Rathish, an accomplished ad filmmaker, knew he had to visually interpret the story and decided to make it his first feature film as director.
As the film, Kammara Sambhavam , gets ready to reach theatres this week, Rathish says it would be one that has not been seen on screen.
Namitha Pramod in a scene from Kammara Sambhavam
The director points out that it was the story that captivated the entire team. And it is again the story that makes Rathish say that whether the film scores or flops, he has had the satisfaction and challenge of having directed a story that enchanted him when he first heard it. “Murali worked on the script for nearly two years after coming up with two three rough drafts. We had several discussions but the entire movie is my visual interpretation of the script,” he explains, while talking over the phone in the midst of the post production work of the film.
“It is a satire that has politics, history and cinema. As an avid movie-goer, I can confidently say that this is one film that I would want to see on screen,” adds Rathish. Shot in Theni, Dindigul and Chennai among other places, Kammara Sambhavam spans different periods of time starting from the early Forties. It is about the adventures of Kammaran Nambiar, a vaidyan (traditional physician), enacted by Dileep.
The film’s shooting was interrupted when Dileep was arrested in a case involving the abduction and sexual assault of a young actor. Dileep joined the sets of the film after his release. Rathish says he could only think of Dileep in the lead role that shows the actor in different get-ups.
“I wanted someone to play the equally important role of Othenan Nambiar and had almost decided on a star in the Malayalam film industry. But then he had to opt out of the film and the first name that came to mind was that of Siddharth’s. He said yes as soon as he heard the story,” says Rathish.
Rathish Ambat
Moreover, Siddharth, making his debut in Malayalam, also dubbed for the film. To get the correct diction and pronunciation, Siddarth sat through two-three dubbing versions. “Since Siddharth has dubbed in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, he was keen on doing the dubbing in Kammara also and he worked hard for it,” says Rathish.
Murali himself plays the significant role of Kelu Nambiar in the movie. Rathish points out that since Murali had written the script, it must have been easy for him to get into the skin of the character. “As the filmmaker, I only had to tell him how I was going to frame each scene. There is a good sync between us and so each of us knew what the other had in mind,” feels the director.
The huge star cast includes Vanitha, Swetha Menon, Namitha Pramod, Indrans, Sudheer Karamana, Vijayaraghavan, Bobby Simha, Baiju and Manikuttan among many others. Rathish justifies the starry cast, saying that the film is an epic drama and has a huge canvas. With camera cranked by Sunil K.S., the movie has been produced under the banner of Sree Gokulam movies.
Gopi Sundar has composed three songs written by Rafeeq Ahamed, Hari Narayanan and Anil Panachooran respectively. Rathish explains that the three lyricists have come up with three different moods for the songs in the film.
