On the trail of a mystery

Shobana in a still from Thira

Vineeth Sreenivasan is again creating waves, this time with a movie that looks like a racy thriller. The multifaceted Vineeth must be used to the limelight now. Ever since he took his first steps into Mollywood as a fresh faced singer, Vineeth has had his finger on the pulse on the Malayali movie buff. He released albums, wrote lyrics, sang songs, became an actor and a director too. By the time he helmed Malarvadi Arts Club and the lyrically romantic Thattathin Marayathu , Vineeth had become a name to watch out for.

As such there is a great deal of hype surrounding his third directorial venture Thira , which released on Thursday.

“I am keen on trying new genres instead of playing it safe by sticking to the same kind of themes and narratives. A thriller is always fun to watch and the adrenalin rush is unbeatable. Actually, this film was there on my mind even before the making of

Thattathin Marayathu, ” he says.

Scripted by Vineeth’s cousin Rakesh Mantodi, the film’s casting itself created news with Shobana returning to Malayalam cinema after an interval. In the male lead is Dhyan Sreenivasan, veteran Sreenivasan’s son, and Vineeth’s younger brother.

“The cast was completely in tune with the characters in the film. chechi Thira Only Shobana chechi could have done this role. She plays the protagonist Rohini, a doctor who goes on a trail to investigate the reasons and people behind certain incidents in her life. Rohini had to be a person with a strong personality and an urbane confidence,” chechi says Vineeth.

Dhyan’s character Naveen is a youngster who has studied outside Kerala and is also dragged willy-nilly into an investigation when he suddenly falls into a completely alien territory. Again, Vineeth emphasises how apt the athletic (and good looking) Dhyan was for the role. “I happened to see a short film he had acted in and I liked one or two moments. I showed it to Rakesh

ettan and we felt he was Naveen,” adds Vineeth. At one point in the story, Rohini’s and Naveen’s paths cross, Vineeth pauses in the middle of his narration, obviously reluctant to reveal more about this thriller.

Shot in parts of Karnataka and Goa, the characters speak a mixture of Kannada, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam. To retain the real feel, Vineeth and Rakesh decided against introducing the usual Malayali characters and have let the characters speak their tongue, with Malayalam subtitles conveying the essence of the dialogues to Malayali viewers.

Vineeth says the comfort levels between the cousins made writing the dialogues and screenplay a pleasure since they thought alike. Filmed by Jomon T. John, music has been composed by Shaan Rahman. “I think it is his best background score ever,” says Vineeth who has also sung in the film. Anu Elizabeth who created a sensation with her songs in Thattathin Marayathu is back with some top-notch numbers that should be on top of the charts. Thira

Thira is produced by Manoj Menon under the banner of ReelsMagic.

Even while the trailer of the film heightens expectations, Vineeth says though he is happy with the way the film has turned out, he is waiting to hear the people’s verdict.

Moreover, he writes in his blog: Thira is not one film. It's a trilogy. If everything goes well by god's grace, Part 1 will be releasing in 2013. Part 2 and Part 3 will follow...."