Actor-producer Vijay Babu’s Friday Film House has been a launch pad for many directors in Malayalam cinema. The latest name to join the fray is Vishnu Baradwaj, whose film Sullu is ready for release.
The production house has so far introduced 10 directors and the list includes Lijin Jose ( Friday ), Aneesh Anwar ( Zakariyude Garbhinikal ), Rojin Thomas and Shanil Mohammed ( Philips and the Monkey Pen ), Arun Vaidyanathan( Peruchazhi ), Midhun Manuel Thomas ( Aadu Oru Bheekara Jeeviyaanu ), John Varghese ( Adi Kapyare Koottamani ), Vipin Das ( Mudhugav ), Ahammed Khabeer ( June ) and John Manthrickal ( Janamaithri ).
The upcoming Thrissur Pooram and Sathyan, both starring Jayasurya in the lead, are also being made by debutants, Rajesh Mohanan and Ratheesh Raghunandan.
According to Vijay, Sullu will be a thriller. ‘Sullu’, which means ‘give up’ in Malayalam, is a term used by children playing games. The story revolves around an eight-year-old boy, Jithu. It is about taking relationships for granted, but what happens when it involves children and they become rebellious? “The film is about one such incident,” says Vijay. He adds that it was Lijo Jose Pellissery who had given the film its title.
In his Facebook page, Vijay writes that the film has been ‘put together by a group of immensely talented young newcomers fresh from film school at a very minuscule budget which is probably lesser than the cost of two scenes in a big budget superstar movie’.
“The director and team had planned to make this film via crowd-funding. Their budget was 15 lakh and they had approached me to play the role of the kid’s father. The story enthused me so much that we decided to support it,” he says.
Vijay Babu
Vijay also gushes about the performance of Vasudev Sajish, the child actor, who had acted in Aby as the younger version of Vineeth Sreenivasan. Vijay and Anumol act as the parents. The story is by the director himself. Editor and cinematographer of the movie, Stephen Mathew and Stigin Mathew, are also débutantes.
“This is the second production of Friday Film House Experiments, a wing of Friday Film House, which is dedicated to films by newcomers. The first project was Janamaithri . We will never go back on promoting fresh talents,” he adds. Ahammed Khabeer, director of Rajisha Vijayan’s June , had earlier said in an interview that Vijay was the 17th producer that he met with the script of the movie. June also marked the debut of the cinematographer and music director and 16 new actors who played Rajisha’s classmates.
Friday Film House, meanwhile, is also associating with directors who have made it big or with those whom they have introduced, such as Lijo Jose Pellissery ( Jallikettu), Arun Kumar Aravind ( Underworld ) and Midhun Maneul Thomas ( Aadu 3 ).
