“The lead characters, Balu and Soorya, entered filmdom by chance. But as fate would have it, Balu becomes the personal make-up man to Soorya who suddenly becomes a huge star,” says director Shafi on 'Make-up Man', the shooting of which is going on at Navodaya Studios near Kakkanad in Kochi. Jayaram and Sheela play the lead characters in the film, while Prithviraj and Kunchacko Boban do cameos.
The world of cinema
“Though the story is often narrated in a cinema-within-cinema style, the main focus is on the lives of Balu (Jayaram) and Soorya (Sheela). Without much prior experience doing make-up, Balu becomes the personal make-up man to Soorya when she becomes a heroine in films. Things take an interesting turn from that point onwards. Cinema is the world where we live and that makes it easy for us to handle this theme.
“Life here is in multi-colour for the rest of the world, but it is not necessarily so, for everyone who works in this field,” says Shafi, who has a a number of hits to his credit such as ‘Kalyana Raman,' ‘Thommanum Makkalum,' ‘Mayavi,' ‘Chocolate' and ‘Chattambinadu.' Shafi has also written the story of ‘Make-up Man.'
In character
The scene for the day involves Jayaram who is armed with a make-up kit and a mirror. He watches from the sidelines as Sheela faces the camera. Siddique plays a film director who is quite impressed by the performance of the new heroine. Shafi goes for various angles to get the point of view of the three.
Jayaram says: “My background in mimicry helps me observe people closely and that has helped in moulding this character a lot.” His character, Balu, accepts the role of the heroine's make-up man, under certain circumstances.
Sheela, who was earlier seen in ‘Maya Bazaar' and ‘Thanthonni,' says: “I really liked the character when it was narrated to me and decided to accept the offer. My character, Soorya, initially had no plans to face the camera but she inadvertently becomes a famous actor.”
Sachi and Sethu, the scenarists of the film add: “The storyline has suspense elements from the initial scenes itself. It is going to be a fun ride with lots of humour and pleasant moments.” The cast includes Janardhanan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Suraj Venjarammoodu, Salim Kumar and Kalpana.
‘Make-up Man' is being produced by M. Renjith under the banner of Rejaputhra Visual Media. Cinematographer is Azhagappan. Lyrics by Kaithapram have been set to music by Vidyasagar. Still photographer is Jayaprakash Payyannur.
