Grabbing more eyeballs on anything means a lavish coat of fun, pun or humour and an FB upload — showers of likes, a lengthy string of comments and oodles of satisfaction — all happening quickly. The formula worked for Arungeorge K. David’s hunt for a heroine for his debut directorial Ladoo. Never before had a Malayalam film tested a video format for casting call. In the short-video spanning less than a minute-and-a-half, three men — Balu Varghese, Shabareesh Varma and Saju Navodaya alias Pashanam Shaji — are in a heated discussion to find a ‘Ladoo-like’ girl to act. It is a rehashed version of a similar sequence in the 90s movie Mannar Mathai Speaking.
“At first a dubsmash was planned. The matter soon came up for a discussion among the crew. We brainstormed together. Everyone liked the idea of a short-video. All have engaged so genuinely in the work,” Arun shares. The director calls the movie a ‘romedy’ (romantic comedy). The lead players are Vinay Forrt, Shabareesh Varma and Balu Varghese. The title launch of Ladoo also kept an element of novelty. The usual way of partying was given a break and a Facebook Live streaming was in. The main actors and director sat around a table in a water-front restaurant in Aluva releasing the title on a pre-planned date and time.
Still from the casting call video
“Actually, it was the place we first discussed the story with Shabareesh. That time also we gathered around the same table. We thought why couldn’t that spot be considered at a significant juncture of our film. For the title launch, there was a gathering of about 20 to 25 people at the same place,” Arun confides. The movie would be set in motion on April 15 on locations in Thrissur and Kothamangalam. The search for a female lead is on till March 10. Ladoo is produced by Sukumar Thekkepat under the banner of Delta Studio. Gautham Shankar wields the camera. Lyrics of Shabareesh Varma are composed by Rajesh Murugesan. After Premam, this is the second Malayalam movie Rajesh is composing for. Arungeorge belongs to the league of screenwriter-turned-directors. He scripted the movie Masala Republic way back in 2014 and was away from the scene so far. Earlier, he had worked as an assistant to Rajeev Ravi.
