Second outing

Srinath Rajendran drops a few hints about Koothara, his second film as director.

Mohanlal in a scene from 'Koothara'.

Director Srinath Rajendran, who made an impressive debut with Second Show in 2012, is back with a curiously titled film, Koothara . The promos of the film that has been kept under wraps show Mohanlal looking like a gypsy.

“I have never mentioned the genre of the film anywhere as I want to retain the suspense,” claims the director.

“Lal

ettan (Mohanlal) had agreed to do the role after listening to the basic storyline and we gave the script to him just before the shooting. It was a privilege to direct such a wonderful actor so early in my career,” says he.

The story, he says, has an engineering college as the backdrop. Koubrin (Bharath), Tarun (Tovino Thomas) and Ram (Sunny Wayne) are students of the college and the title has been derived from the first two letters of their names. The story delves into the lives of these three young men and covers a crucial period in their lives.

Bhavana, Gauthami Nair, Janani Iyer, Madhurima Bannerjee and Shritha Sivadas are the heroines.

“There has been some delay in wrapping up the film on time, as it explores different textures and has been shot at various locations with quite a number of artistes. But it was a wonderful experience shooting at the Engineering College in Kozhikode where Sunny Wayne, scenarist Vini Viswalal and myself were students some years ago. Of course, there are scenes based on our own experience during those times,” adds Srinath.

“We were a bunch of newbies with a passion for filmmaking while we were making Second Show . Now we are part of the system to a certain extent but the spirit is still the same. We are not in a hurry to make a number of films but want to give our best to each movies that we take up,” says Srinath.

Looking back, does he feel that Second Show got the appreciation that it deserved?

“All those things don't matter and my happiness is in making the film. It is the prerogative of the viewer to appreciate or criticise a movie. The highlight of the film was that it was made by wannabes. We did some experiments. Some of them got noticed. Some didn't. It's over and all we think about now is Koothara ,” he says.

Koothara has been produced under the banner of Marikar Films. Cinematographer is Pappu. Music has been composed by Gopi Sundar, while the theme song has been composed and sung by Thakara band.