On Location: Njangalude Veettile Adhithikal — When guests come calling

Sibi Malayil’s Njangalude Veettile Adhithikal is about how guests can influence our lives.

Jayaram and Priyamani in a scene from Njangalude Veettile Adhithikal

Inside one of the rooms of a tastefully furnished apartment, a couple are having a heated discussion, with a few dozen eyes and a camera trained on them. It’s the location for director Sibi Malayil’s Njangalude Veettile Adhithikal , with Jayaram and Priyamani in the lead.

“Manoj (Jayaram) is a lawyer. He lives in this apartment with his wife, Bhavana (Priyamani) and their daughter. The husband and wife don’t see eye to eye, particularly after a tragedy befalls them. Though the issue handled here is a serious one, it is being narrated with a tinge of humour,” says Sibi.

The veteran director adds that the story is about how guests can influence our lives. “Often, unwelcome guests become a part of marital troubles, which takes things from bad to worse. But sometimes guests can help save the realtionship too,” he explains. Much to Manoj’s chagrin, Bhavana is a bibliophile. She is influenced by works such as Simone de Beauvoir’s

The Woman Destroyed , Isadora Duncon’s

My Life and Sethu’s

Pandavapuram and at some junctures in her life she finds herself living the life of her favourite characters from the books.

Jayaram is teaming up with Sibi after quite a gap. “He is a filmmaker known for making hard-hitting family dramas and for me, it has been the genre that I am always identified with,” says the actor, in between taking calls on behalf of his son, Kalidas, whose video of him mimicking Tamil superstars Ajith, Vijay and Surya during an awards show, went viral. “It was a proud moment for our family and the response to his performance has been truly overwhelming,” says the proud father.

Priyamani joins the discussion after completing a close up shot. “My character may be a typical housewife but she has hidden depths. I have not done a role like this before and that’s what attracted me to this project. It is fantastic that besides all the seriousness, there are some genuine moments that will tickle the funny bones as well,” she says.

Narain, who is sporting long hair and stubble, dons the role of a celebrity model, Raj Menon.

“He is one of the guests who come into the couple’s life,” says Narain, refusing to divulge more details. The actor has not been seen in Malayalam, of late… “I have been busy with my Tamil projects. But some of those films got delayed and I lost quite a lot of time,” he says.

Njangalude Veettile Adhithikal is being produced under the banner of Galaxy Films. Sameer Haq is the cinematographer while Ratheesh Vega has composed the music.