With Mollywood scriptwriters of the day fast turning into directors, it seems as if the easiest way to filmmaking in Malayalam is through scriptwriting.
It took the late Lohithadas and Ranjith numerous films to learn the nuances of filmmaking before eventually deciding to don the director’s hat.
Lohithadas scripted more than 30 films, which include classics like Thaniyavarthanam , Dasaradham, Amaram, Bharatham, and Chakoram to name a few, before directing Bhoothakannadi . Similarly, Ranjith scripted major hits in the history of Malayalam film industry such as Devasuram, Summer in Bethlehem and Narasimham before turning director with Ravanaprabhu , a sequel to Devasuram .
However, the new generation writers seem impatient to wait that long. The latest to jump on the bandwagon is James Albert who made his directorial debut on Friday with the Fahad Fazil-starrer Mariyammukku . Albert started his scriptwriting career with the hugely popular campus movie Classmates in 2006 and went on to pen five more films in the next seven years.
Dileesh Nair who scripted hits such as Salt n Pepper and Da Thadiya besides writing dialogues for Idukki Gold made his directorial debut recently with Tamaar Padaar .
Sachi who scripted films such as Chocolate, Robin Hood, Makeup Man, Seniors and Doubles along with co-writer Sethu before independently scripting Run Baby Run and Chettayees is also set to take the director’s mantle. He will make his directorial debut this year with a film likely to pair Prithviraj and Biju Menon in the lead.
M.P. Praveen