Check most M-Town newbie profiles these days, a tale of friendship is a likely highlight. It’s time such a story is brought forward again as Chandhu Nadh, an accomplished theatre person-cum-teacher launches as a film actor in Himalayathile Kashmalan, an Abhiram Suresh Unnithan debut. Sometime ago, Chandhu had returned home putting to rest four long years in Bengaluru. It was then he chanced upon his college buddy Abhiram, a former batchmate in Mar Ivanios College.
“Abhiram was on a talent hunt for a big budget movie he had been planning. I was informed about the auditioning and shortly afterwards, I attended it and got in. Unfortunately, the movie did not take off. The actors picked from the audition were roped in for Himalayathile Kashmalan thereafter,” Chandhu rewinds.
In the meantime, in his hometown, Thiruvananthapuram, Chandhu was getting involved in acting and teaching. With a Masters in English Language and Literature, he doubled up as a teacher-cum-theatre instructor in reputed schools.
He utilised his skills in devising plays and helping students to prune and polish their acting skills. He had mostly scripted plays in English. Also, he was active in a theatre alumni collective Kanal Samskarika Vedi. The eventful teaching career met with a break by the time the movie started rolling. The preparation demanded an overall transformation from his side, in looks and lifestyle.
The film narrates an overnight turn of events. The schedules were planned from 7 pm to 7 am on 25 days. “Other than for indoor shoots in Chitranjali Studio, this format was followed. It was like to sleep the whole day, wake up by evening and devote the entire night hours to shoot. That was the most exciting part in it. My real nature and the one in the movie differ like chalk and cheese. The character Jose, is a least progressive village man who is at the forefront of every activity in his place. He has many troublesome encounters therefore. The first half of the movie is slapstick and the remaining half works out behavioural comedy,” he shares.
Centred on the outskirts of the capital city, the village, mentioned as Parassuvakkal, was filmed in a remote area in Neyyattinkara. “The film is the result of a strenuous effort put in by the director and the producers. The production house is a brick-by-brick collective of the three of them. It’s an entertainer with new faces. The rest is left with the audience,” he says. The film is slated for a mid-March release.
