An ode to friendship

Joshy Thomas Pallickal believes in the power of true friendship. In his words, we are blessed if we have good friends in life. So, when he set off to take his first film, he didn’t have to look for another theme. His movie Naam is an ode to friendship. “Usually politics and romance form the backdrop of campus movies. Naam deviates from the regular route and focuses on friendship,” says Joshy, who directs the movie.

He has also written the story, which has drawn inspiration from real life incidents. “When I was in college, I had a good bunch of friends. They all have inspired me to write Naam, which tells the story of nine friends played by Sabareesh Varma, Rahul Madhav, Aditi Ravi, Tony Luke, Noby Markose, Niranj Suresh, Sonu Sebastian, Ajay Mathew and Mareena Michael,” he says.

In his opinion, the movie will make everyone, both parents and children, think. “When parents send their children to colleges, they are mostly worried about their friends’ circle on the campus. Whether they would get involved in bad friendship is always parents’ concern. The fact is that children won’t go astray if they find good friends, who are for lifetime.” The movie also looks at the need to nurture a mature attitude among young people. “It sends out a good message to the crowd. You’ll get it when you watch it.”

Music is one of the integral elements of Naam that has eight songs. A few songs have been released already. Music is scored by Ashwin Shivadas and Sandeep Mohan to the lyrics written by Shabareesh Varma. Besides the nine lead actors, the movie also features Saiju Kurup, Thampi Antony and Renji Panicker in significant roles. “Director Gautham Vasudev Menon, Tovino Thomas and Vineeth Sreenivasan appear in cameo. The movie introduces 140 new faces,” claims Joshy, who worked as associate of many directors before starting his independent project. Now, he is completely into cinema.

The shooting of Naam happened on two campuses in Kottayam. As the movie is all set to hit theatres on May 11 crossing all hurdles, Joshy is hopeful. “There have been obstacles, but I was sure that a movie that carries a positive message would become a reality once,” he concludes.