‘Kodikayarana pooramaayiPodi parathiyorolamaayi Chunayude perum vadameduthoru Cheru padayude varavitha’...
Over the past one year, this song has turned into an anthem of sorts for Malayalis across the globe. The song is a fixture in every other sports meet from Onam specials to ISL. Along with the song grew the popularity of Shaji Pappan and his gang of mandanmar. The background scores for each characters, the look that Jayasurya sported in the movie and the movie itself have a cult status with a huge fan following. Director Midhun Manuel Thomas sat baffled at how much the public loved and accepted the movie Aadu Oru Bheekara Jeevi Aanu.Surprisingly, the same movie was trashed by every other moviegoer back when it released in theatres in 2015. Riding on the new-found cult status of the movie, Midhun decided to give a shot at a sequel. The announcement that Shaji Pappan and his boys will be returning to the big screen was accepted with open arms and has been one of the most- awaited sequels, despite a bombed first part. Aadu 2 will be hitting the screens on December 22.
Director Midhun hardly has any time to breathe. “The finishing touches are going on,” he says. He talks about Aadu 2 and says, “We will not be breaking any pattern of Aadu 1 for this movie. This will be an out and out fun ride. Similar to the first one, we have a handful of caricaturish characters, all of them imbeciles. The movie will be something that everyone can enjoy, we have not changed it much.” He adds, “All the characters remain the same, but the issues they face this time are different. They have new problems.”
Midhun with editor Lijo Paul.
The year 2017 was one of sequels and prequels, even in Hollywood. The crowd was bombarded with a series of passable and disappointing prequels and sequels, so much that people view a sequel as a potential flop now. Aadu having gone through a series of negativity in the first part, how worried is Midhun regarding the response to the second instalment? “Whether it is the second part of a super-hit movie or an entirely new movie, the risk factor is the same. The ultimate decision lies with the viewer. The added risk that comes with a very successful movie is that the weight of expectations will be on its shoulders. When it comes to Aadu 2, well, moviemakers hardly ever come out with a second instalment for a movie that bombed in the first place.” “At the same time, Aadu is a movie that found success on other platforms. It had a good reception when the DVD was launched. Yes, it attained a cult status and so in a way we had the same risk of making the sequel of a successful movie.”
He adds on, “Even the trailer went viral. So we know that people are waiting. And the pressure factor here is that people have a lot of expectations too. The pressure is huge.” Giving a sneak peak, he says, “Apart from the existing characters, we have introduced a few new characters as well and this time the canvas too is bigger. We will also be giving the crowd a new punch song!” Of all the characters in the movie, it was Jayasurya’s Shaji Pappan, that won hearts. Speaking about the character, Midhun says, “The fans of Aadu are in reality fans of Shaji Pappan. This is actually a Jayasurya movie without Jayasurya because he completely transforms into Shaji Pappan. I have felt that an entirely different entity is standing in front of me when I direct Jayasurya. It is amazing to work with him. The reason Shaji Pappan has such a fan following is because we do not feel that it is Jayasurya.”
