A 70-year-old man is in search of his son who left home 16 years ago. Pappu Pisharody, the old man, has lost his wife and daughter. Now caught in the dark vortex of depression and loneliness, he yearns for his long-lost son and sets out to find him. His search takes him to a town where he meets with a small accident and lands up in a hospital, from where he still continues the search, enquiring with the doctors and nurses. His son is his all-consuming obsession. The gregarious old man’s waking hours are consumed by thoughts of his son.
He even tries to matchmake for his son with a nurse who treats him. That’s how great his hope of finding his son is. The septuagenarian’s efforts pay off and he finally locates his son. This is a plot from the film Aalorukkam, directed and written by V.C. Abhilash, which has Indrans playing the role of Pappu — an Ottanthullal expert. If you think the story ends with the old man finding his son, you are far off the mark.
That is only the beginning. The events that come after the son is found, gives the film thrilling moments and takes it to its climax. Abhilash is tight-lipped about the mystery, but hints that it is a current issue that the state is seeing. Abhilash states that this is unlike any other role that Indrans has played so far. He explains why he chose Indrans. “I had a very strong instinct that Indrans could pull off this role and the myriad emotional highs and lows it required to perfection. I waited for some time for his dates and that has not been in vain. I have seen his magical transformation from the old man’s persona to the intense Ottanthullal performer in the past 16 days,” he says.
The director also revealed that Indrans will be doing a full-fledged Ottanthullal performance in this film, which is a novelty. Along with that is another rare event. Writer/poet Yesudas is writing an Ottanthullal scenario that complements the story plot. “Indrans has been learning Ottanthullal from six Kalamandalam experts,” Abhilash reveals. A journalist and an assistant director, Abhilash had first written this as a story in 2008. It was also published. But the story at that point lacked depth. After deciding to make a film, he turned into a screenplay. A lot of research has gone into the film, taking into account the subject being portrayed.
