As Lilly blooms

The director giving this interview is just a first-look poster old in Mollywood. But this fact is sometime forgotten in a conversation with debut director Prasob Vijayan of Lilly. In between, he talks genuinely and knowledgeably about the many Ws every newcomer has to keep in mind while arriving in this big bang world of arc lights. The director is a fresher, so are his actors. Apart from two familiar faces, he promises, none would have seen the rest of the cast. He has chosen Easter to leave the first glimpse of his maiden movie, which also is a tale of resurrection and revival.

The poster shows the female actor wounded on the face, with no graphical over abundance. Her face is visible. Her eyes shut. Some goodies fly in the air — a teddy bear, a lipstick and a few nails. “You could call it a resurrection in certain way. The whole idea is about falling down. As with Jesus Christ, on the third day, she escapes from something harsh that she had undergone,” says Prasob.Like the many youngsters who breathe and eat cinema was Prasob until certain time ago. His credentials belong to a short film Sometimes. 

“Producers may turn a bit apprehensive when a first-timer approaches them to fund for his project. We must be clear about how their money would productively be invested for our movie. Luckily, I got a very supportive producer (C.V. Sarathy) who understood what we intend with the film,” explains the director. Apart from actors Samyuktha Menon and S Durga fame Kannan Nayar, every other face in the film would be new to the viewers. The film is producers under the banner of E4 Experiments, a sister concern of E4 Entertainment, that produced movies Godha and Ezra.

Lilly is just one in a series of movies that were out as a result of some over-a-cup-of-coffee conversation by a set of friends. The ideas came from under the same roof, in an apartment in Kalamassery in Kochi, where Prasobh, Jenith Kachappilly (of Mandakini) and Sajas (scriptwriter of Mandaram) sat together for a brain wrack. “You may say our films were born together,” smiles Prasob. The film shot in Ernakulam and Mysuru is up for a July release.