The Mumbai connection

Director Rosshan Andrrews’ Mumbai Police is more a story of friendship among three cops, played by Prithviraj, Jayasurya and Rahman, than a tale of machismo.

Jayasurya, Prithviraj and Rahman in Mumbai Police

Director Rosshan Andrrews says his new film Mumbai Police is about friendship. The shooting of the film is going on inside FACT Udyogamandal’s club, which has been converted into the environs of a police station for the occasion. Three actors dressed as cops are all set to face the camera.

The scene to be shot is a close-up that features assistant commissioners Antony Moses (Prithviraj) and Aryan John Jacob (Jayasurya) talking to commissioner Farhan Aman (Rahman). As soon as the trio take their positions, the camera begins rolling and the shot is canned, all in a matter of minutes. The wide angle shot that follows brings into the frame a few other actors dressed as policemen and some well-built hunks too, all of who have lined up inside Aryan’s cabin.

“These three police officers have known each other from their days in Mumbai. Back home in Kerala, they become involved in certain issues and their interesting style of functioning gets them a monicker – ‘Mumbai Police’,” says Rosshan, who shot to fame with his maiden film

Udayananu Tharam . He also directed

Note Book ,

Ividam Swargamanu and

Casanovva .

The reactions of the various actors are being canned next and just like the characters that they play, the three actors seem to share an excellent camaraderie off camera too. The trio discuss the merits of the shot as the crew gets ready for the next one.

While Antony prefers to talk with his fists, Aryan is reluctant to be a cop. Farhan, meanwhile, is dedicated to the job. Annie (Meera Nandan) plays Farhan's wife and debutant Hima Davis plays Rebecca, an officer in the IT department. Rakhee Menon (Aparna Nair) is an IPS officer who has come for training under Antony. Sudhakaran (Kunchan) is an assistant sub-inspector, who has an important role to play in the storyline

“Our police system is efficient. Most of our police personnel sweat it out to maintain law and order to ensure that we sleep peacefully at night. But do we acknowledge all these hardships and do these policemen get their due? Do we ever care to know more about their emotions too? These thoughts prompted us to think about this storyline, which is a sort of a thriller too,” say scenarists Bobby and Sanjay. This is their latest project after the hit

Ayalum Njanum Thammil . .

Prithviraj says that Mumbai Police is not an action flick. “It’s a very character-driven film in the sense that the entire narrative is based on the journey of Antony Moses. The film is being told from his perspective.”

Jayasurya, who is riding high after the success Trivandrum Lodge, chips in: “Aryan, my character, comes from a wealthy family. He is a reluctant cop who starts enjoying his profession after meeting Antony and Farhan.”

Rahman, meanwhile, seems a bit laidback when he says: “I am not in a hurry as an actor and want to do only roles that are absolutely convincing , like this one. Farhan is grounded and intelligent.”

Mumbai Police is being produced by Nisad Haneefa. R. Diwakaran cranks the camera and Gopi Sundar scores the music. Stills are by Paul Bathery.