As Premam is threatening to break box office records, Anwar Rasheed is proving to be the man with the Midas touch in Malayalam cinema. Yet again.
He may be better known as one of the more talented directors in the younger generation, but he is also the producer of the Nivin Pauly starrer, which is attracting audiences the way very few Malayalam films of recent times have.
This is his second film as a producer; the first one, Bangalore Days , became one of the highest grosser ever in Malayalam. Premam could end up doing even better.
The three films he directed, Rajamanikyam , Chotta Mumbai and Ustad Hotel , were all hits. The short films he directed in the portmanteau movies, Kerala Café and Anchu Sundarikal , were widely regarded the best of the lot in them. He had directed Bridge in Kerala Café and Aamy in Anchu Sundarikal .
He had made his debut as a director most unexpectedly though, some ten years ago. Ranjith was supposed to direct Rajamanikyam , but the mantle fell on him at the last minute. Thus began one of the most successful stories in Malayalam cinema of our time.
(Reporting by
P.K. Ajith Kumar)
