Awaiting his magnum opus
Rosshan Andrrews is full of pride when he talks about his upcoming big-budget film, Kayamkulam Kochunni.
Director Rosshan Andrrews believes firmly in the power of the law of attraction and the notion that if you focus on your desires, the universe will then deliver them to you. How else, he asks incredulously (referring to himself), do miracles happen in a common man’s life? He travels back in time to his school days when he was in Kodaikanal and film-crazy as he was, heard of a shoot happening nearby. The film was January Oru Orma starring Mohanlal and Rosshan stood right in the front of a crowd watching his idol Mohanlal act. Years passed by and he heard of Kamal Hassan visiting St Albert’s College for a function.
“I pleaded with the security to let me meet him to which the security replied that I could watch him through the window,” he says. Cut to the present and Rosshan has worked with Mohanlal in three films and is currently doing his fourth, Kayamkulam Kochunni. Laughing he says, “I sat in Kamal’s house and had ice cream, which he served, while we discussed a film subject,” adding that he has a list of people whom he wanted to meet and finally did like Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Rajkumar Hirani among others. Currently, Rosshan is busy with the final post-production works of his big-budget film Kayamkulam Kochunni, starring Nivin Pauly in the title role and Mohanlal. Each project of Rosshan’s takes time and there are gaps in between his projects. The reasons are not only the careful pre-preparations but also personal ones.
He reveals, “My wife’s only demand before marriage was that I be present with her during her pregnancy and delivery period. So starting from Udayananu Tharam, there has been a break because I have three children. I kept my promise and was with her for every pregnancy, except when my son was born.” Capping that with a hearty laugh, he comes back to his magnum opus. “The discussions with the writers Bobby-Sanjay took time. I travelled with them to finalise the locations and that took a year. For me, the pre-production for a film takes almost a year and then there is the wait for the actors’ dates. Irrespective of whether a film is a hit or a miss, these aspects have to be done and I enjoy that process,” he explains.
Rosshan is a director who has kept his pulse on contemporary subjects and came out with films like Casanova, Mumbai Police, School Bus and How Old Are You. His current project Kayamkulam Kochunni is a change from the norm. It is a historical film and that is exactly why Rosshan chose to test the waters. “The historical genre is something I have not touched. It was Sanjay who asked me to read up on Kayamkulam Kochunni and after I finished, I was intrigued as a filmmaker. There was romance, treachery, betrayal and friendship, which I felt was the right mix for a commercial film,” he explains. Rosshan went through the Aithihyamala by Kottarathil Sankunni and then decided to delve deep into the life of the legendary thief of Kayamkulam.
He decided to go larger than life to convey his vision and says, “This is my biggest film budget-wise, making-wise and effort-wise, posing a challenge to me as a director.” The number of people involved with the preproduction and post-production was immense and the challenge was to create a perfect symphony of all the various departments. So two years before, Rosshan employed a research team to find out about more about Kochunni. That research was ongoing along with Sanjay-Bobby penning the script simultaneously for almost a year. “It yielded a lot of material for me to choose from and I had to pick out exactly what I wanted from that huge pile of research,” he remembers.
Another big challenge that loomed in front of the filmmaker was that not much was known about the life of the notorious thief and there was no one still living to glean information from about the 1830’s. Rosshan spent time in Kayamkulam, Evoor, Thrikkunnapuzha and Vavakkad to absorb the remnants of history if any. He says, “I just went and sat in these places and visualised how they would have looked 150 years ago and images swirled to my mind. I believe my dedication made those images come alive.”
Rosshan took some cinematic liberty by introducing commercial elements that were novel, “I was very clear about what I wanted and sought the best in the field,” he mentions. Then began the search for the technicians and the actors and one by one they came on board including the action, makeup, costume and art members. Rosshan’s thorough research made things easier for the team. Pausing a moment, Rosshan says, “I want to make a film that my children can be proud of. After 14 years, people still discuss the dialogues of Udayananu Tharam, which has become a cult film. And that’s not all, I also want people to be aware of the Kerala of that era — the architecture, lifestyle, mode of travel, language, currency and the way they dressed in that period.” The film has recreated massive sets of the period with some part of the shoot happening in Sri Lanka.
Talking about Nivin coming on board, Rosshan gushes, “I was given other options but I stuck to Nivin. I had seen his earlier films and after talking with him, found him to be very dedicated. Nivin is a director’s actor and spent eight months for this film.” Rosshan adds, “I also got a good friend whom I call ‘bro’ and with whom I could share my problems.” Regarding Mohanlal playing Kochunni’s friend Ithikkara Pakki, Rosshan had no doubt he wanted Mohanlal for the role. Rosshan spoke to Mohanlal over the phone and it took just fifteen minutes of Rosshan explaining his part for the legend to say ‘Yes’. On the cards is a thriller film with Sanjay-Bobby and Nivin again and another with Naveen Bhaskar.