I was at the right place at the right time, says East Coast Vijayan
Back in 90s, the name East Coast Vijayan was a rage among youngsters. A slew of romantic music videos such as Ninakkai, Aadhyamai and Ormakkai he brought out earned him a place among youngsters. Later, he was seen putting the garb of director, producer and lyricist of movies, beginning with Novel (2008) starring Jayaram and Sada, which was followed by Mohabbath (2011), My Boss (2012) and Jilebi (2015). Then, there was a gap. Now after a while, he is back with another movie, Chila Newgen Nattuviseshangal, which narrates the story of an ordinary man who falls in love with a woman from a rich family.
“He wants to marry her, but her father is against it, and puts forth a demand. Rest of the movie shows his journey towards fulfilling it,” says Vijayan, who directs and produces the movie. “I had no plans to direct. One person approached me to produce it, but as the script had some issues and he could not resolve them, he stepped back and I was forced to take up direction, because I liked the story.”
The movie that is sprinkled with humour has his son Vinay in a prominent role. “He plays the second lead,” says Vijayan, without disclosing more as he leaves it to the audience to measure his son’s acting prowess. The movie has newbie Akhil Prabhakaran, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Harish Kanaran and Nedumudi Venu in significant roles. “Suraj and Harish play two prominent roles. Shivakami and Sonu appear as female leads. There are five songs too,” says Vijayan who started the journey as a stage show director.
According to Vijayan, everything in his life happened quite organically. After working for a while in Mumbai, he moved to the UAE where he started directing stage shows. Music videos and movies happened later on. “Looking back, I cannot think how and why it happened. Everything took place at the right time, and I chose to walk on those paths. The only principle I kept in mind was that I would do everything with whole my heart.” Vijayan believes it was this attitude that let him going places. Even failures didn't deter him from pursuing what his mind felt right. “Failure teaches us more than success,” he says citing the example of Novel, his debut movie that tanked at the box office. Confronting that failure was a great lesson, he recalls. “I realised that, in cinema, others might interfere in our work. When we don't allow them to do that, they get upset, subsequently making the entire situation miserable. I have also learned that one should maintain silence wherever required and promote his or her work,” says Vijayan, who finds direction an interesting task if everyone works together in harmony.
Ask what helps him catch the young minds, he says, “In my office, a major chunk of employees are youngsters. May be my interactions with them help me understand their thoughts. Or perhaps the teen and young version of myself is still alive in me,” he smiles.
Chila Newgen Nattuviseshan-gal is slated for release in July.
