100 Characters in Menon’s Malayalam film?
Most Malayalam films revolve around just a handful of characters. However, scriptwriter-turned-director Ranjan Pramod’s Rakshadhikari Biju would change that trend by having close to a 100 characters as part of the story.
The movie has Biju Menon playing the lead role of an employee of an irrigation department. “The story-telling pattern of the movie is different,” says Ranjan. “We don’t follow a particular story line but the entire movie will have a lot of stories. There are around 100 characters in the movie and all these characters and their tales are somehow connected to the ‘Rakshadikari Biju’ played by Biju Menon.”
On Biju Menon’s character, the director says, “He is not a larger than life hero, but shows his heroism in subtle ways. He is a normal man, who spends his life travelling from his village to work in the city and back. He doesn’t go out of his way to help people or be good, but somehow ends up doing a heroic deed.”
The film, which also has Darvinte Parinamam fame Hannah Reji, has finished the shooting and is gearing up for an April release. The filmmaker says that movie has “a contemporary story very relevant to our times”.
“It’s got a political subtext that is wrapped in humor and without any dramatic moments or hard-hitting dialogues,” says Ranjan. “The aim is to not only make the viewers laugh but also think.”
