Whatever you attempt in tinsel town, chances are someone would already have been there and done that. One can attempt to infuse novelty in genres or themes, attempt a casting coup, or go for drastic physical makeovers of the actors or else use VFX and graphic effects to veer away from the beaten track. So when the duo of directors G.S. Vijayan and S.L. Puram Jayasurya sat together, ruminating over something novel, they knew that it had to be one never attempted before. That is how they hit on an idea that they claim is a first in Malayalam cinema, even Indian cinema.
So, what is the pathbreaking attempt? They have decided to come out with a film that will have only technicians — to be more specific only directors — as the actors. The untitled film will be directed by G.S. Vijayan, while the story, screenplay and dialogues will be by Jayasurya. The genre of the film would be humour with a love story intertwined. Shedding more light, Jayasurya shares, “Vijayan asked me if we could make a film with only technicians as actors but that would mean too many of them. So we narrowed it down to only directors, which would include the established as well as the upcoming ones.” “It would be the Twenty 20 of the technicians”, referring to the hit film Twenty 20 produced by Dileep that had a plethora of leading stars like Mammootty, Mohanlal, Dileep, Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, Kavya Madhavan, Bhavana, Manoj K. Jayan, Indrajith, etc.
The upcoming ambitious film will feature directors like Lal, Renji Panicker, Jude Antony, Dileesh Pothen, Shyamaprasad, P. Balachandran, Lal Jose, Joey Mathew, Shaji Kailas, Vyshakan, K. Madhu, Major Ravi, Joshy Mathew and Boban Samuel in front of the camera. Jayasurya mentions, “A lot of these directors are already acting and have proved their potential. We know from experience that there are a lot of other talented youngsters out there who can direct and act too.” While it sounds easy, Jayasurya and Vijayan know it would not be a walk in the park. Accommodating all these director/actors in the script, giving them enough space and all the while coming up with an engaging story line is a challenge, but one the duo are not shirking from.
“Doing something first is always a challenge because there is no example to follow. We would also be under the scanner but that is a risk we have taken. I have to give space to all the director/actors and also include the maximum number of directors in the project. We are ready to face the repercussions because it is a decision we have taken. Yes, there will be a lot of hard work,” Jayasurya says. The script of the film is being developed and they are in no hurry because some of the directors are also actors and getting their dates would be an issue. Jayasurya asserts that more than the curiosity value, every minute detail needs to fall into place and only after that would the shoot start, hopefully by December.
