Having a ball

'Karinkunnam 6s', a sports drama directed by Deepu Karunakaran, has Manju Warrier as a volleyball coach for a ragtag team of prisoners.

Manju Warrier in a still from Deepu Karunakaran's 'Karikunnam 6s' Photo: Special arrangement

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arinkunnam 6s is about how a coach unlocks the sporting spirit in a bunch of prisoners. When that coach Vandana is enacted by Manju Warrier, naturally, not much can block expectations about the film. Directed by Deepu Karunakaran,

Karinkunnam 6s , which has an impressive star cast, is about a team of prisoners being coached to become winners.

Deepu is the director of films such as Fireman, Tejabhai & Family, Winter and Crazy Gopalan.

Deepu says that during discussions in the pre-shooting stage, they wondered who would be the right coach to make it an interesting story. “There is actually a volleyball team in the Central Prison at Poojappura, Thiruvanathapuram, and they participate in league matches against local teams from sub-jails and from parishes. The reason is that volleyball requires less space than say football or cricket. In fact, Manju and I inaugurated one such match in December last year,” says Deepu.He adds: “During my research on the prison, I found that there are women teachers who work with the prisoners to teach them languages and other subjects. That is when we thought of a woman coach and immediately the idea of the film took off.”

Once they locked in on the woman coach, the only person they could think of to play the role was Manju Warrier. “There were no other options. Manju was game as soon as she heard the story. All we had to do was help her familiarise herself with the game. She also underwent coaching in volleyball.”

Deepa says Manju told him that it was a relief to play a different role because apparently she was inundated with roles of the strong woman who overcomes all hurdles in life. Moreover, often, she was expected to do a solo job of carrying the film on her shoulders. Karinkunnam 6s , on the other hand, enthused her with the story and the ensemble cast of talented stars.

Vandana is not an iron woman. Her humour and determination motivate the ragtag team to go places. “In a game there is only one winner and the story is about how Vandana shapes up this bunch to ace the game,” says the director.

Shot in Thiruvananthapuram, Karinkunnam 6s is one of those rare Malayalam films that revolve around sports. Anoop Menon, Maniyanpilla Raju, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Sudheer Karamana, Babu Antony, Sreejith Ravi, Santhosh Keezhattoor, Manikuttan, Nandu and Lena are some of the actors in the ensemble cast.

Directors Shyamaprasad and Major Ravi appear in cameos. Shyamaprasad plays a league owner, who is into buying teams and fixing games.

Deepu admits with a laugh that the huge star cast was a challenge as dates had to be coordinated. Moreover, directing a talented lot belonging to different generations had it own share of challenges. “The location almost resembled a meeting of the All Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA). Actors of the old school wondered if there should be a bit of drama and melodrama in the film while the younger lot wanted to play it real-like and keep it subtle. I enjoyed leading this versatile team of actors,” says Deepu.

Music composer Rahul Raj’s songs for the film is already winning him raves. Jayakrishna Gummadi is the cinematographer of the flick written by Arunlal Ramachandran and produced by Jayalal Menon and Anil Biswas.

Deepu is aware that the film will be sharing space with some biggies during the festival season.

“I have written the script and made the film that I wanted to. There is no point in my getting worked up about the film’s performance at the box office. It is up to the viewers.” The ball is in their court!