Writer pins hopes on Odiyan

Says movie avoids superstitions, myths

For K. Harikrishnan, journalist and screenwriter, the first thing he had in mind while conjuring up Odiyan was that it should illuminate a character.

“It’s an ultimate Mohanlal film. The character is crafted keeping the great actor in mind, and the story plot makes immense use of the flexibility of his body and acting ability,” he said during a meet the press programme at Kottayam Press Club on Tuesday.

Odiyan , as the writer says, is a celebration of manhood as well as womanhood.

“When I saw Mohanlal in the first line of the story, Manju Warrier was there in the very next line of my thought. The story gives equal importance to the character played by Manju and Prakash Raj, who plays the antagonist,” Harikrishnan said.

While developing the plot into a screenplay, Harikrishnan made sure that it treaded a different path and completely avoided superstitions and myths associated with the ‘Odiyan’ community.

“Odiyan is not a myth, it’s a clan that really existed. Each village had at least one Odiyan family, who was paid to give people a scare. Attached to their profession were a whole lot of mythical stories about their supernatural ability to assume the figure of different animals in split seconds, among other things,” he added.

From Palakkad

Set in the rural Palakkad, it narrates a story that happened some 50 years ago.

“I was so surprised to see Mohanlal agreeing to sign up soon after going through just a single scene detailing on the Odiyan’s entry. He told me that the six- minute scene carried the essence of the project that I had envisioned,” said Harikrishnan, who works as the lead writer of of a leading Malayalam daily in Kottayam. After spending his days at the workplace, he worked on the story during late night hours to complete it in a time-bound manner. The movie, which the writer assures of offering a whole new viewing experience through a right mix of art and entertainment, is slated to premier on December 14.