Women are the most affected: Kunju Muhammed
The director blames heavy showers and unscheduled non-screening on his film for low turnout.
Post a five year hiatus, award-winning director/producer P. T. Kunju Muhammed announced Viswasapoorvam Manzoor (VM) with newbies Roshan Mathew and Prayaga Martin in the lead. The film traces the flight of a mother and daughter from the communal riots in Mumbai to take refuge in their hometown in Kerala where she finds more problems cropping up with no let-up.
The director, while addressing a press meet in Kochi along with the stars of the film Roshan, Prayaga and Saif Muhammed, terms his film as a commercial one which holds a mirror to the society with traces of reality involving fictional characters. The director, though happy with the response to his film, is not seeing that translating to box office sales and blames the heavy showers for the low turnout at theatres along with the unscheduled non- screening of his film in some theatres.
Talking about the storyline, Kunju Muhammed says, “This is a film that should be watched because whenever riots happen anywhere, it is the women who are the most affected and become victims.”
The director, who has worked with established actors in the past like Mohanlal chose to take on youngsters for this film — a decision he is not regretting. About Aanandam fame Roshan, the director says, “He has put in a fantastic performance as Manzoor. I had not seen Roshan’s earlier film but I was bowled over by his commitment. He reached the location three days before his shoot day and went to the local areas to grasp the language, slang and culture”. Roshan adds that he had been getting a lot of scripts post playing Gautham in Aanandam but it was Mansoor that caught his attention. “I wanted Gautham and Mansoor to be poles apart from each other! VM is a socially relevant theme with a highly experienced crew on board and I was made completely comfortable” he states.
The female lead Prayaga too was adamant that she not get stereotyped. “I wanted a story that would stand apart and I personally believe sustainability is the key to longevity in the film field. I did not want to do the same kind of roles in every film and this role excited me.”