The seven-year gap after the film He Is Not Me, was it intentional?
Not intentionally, so there are many reasons for a huge gap to come. I had planned another film with Fahad Fazil after the movie He is not me. A script came up and Fahad was also interested in it. But when the script was written, the film was put on hold because it felt that it should not have been done then. After that another film was committed with another production house. Kovid came when all of its pre-productions began. A three year went by like that.
The movie Dear Friend came to me two years ago. Shaiju Khalid, Sameer Tahir and Aashiq Usman have been producing and Shaiju Khalid has been working as a cameraman for over two years. Kovid and other technical issues continued to linger. In fact, the plan was to make the next film after a gap of two years after the film He Is Not Me. But as time went on I was able to focus more on writing. All the movies that were changed like that will start one by one now.
The story of the film is written by Arjun Lal. Arjun also plays a central role in the film. How was the trip to Dear Front?
Arjun tells me to call him during the pre-production of a movie before Kovid. Before that I had no acquaintance with Arjun. I really liked the character and the movie that Arjun played in Thanmatra. Arjun first sent me a message through Facebook. That’s how we passed the number. Later we met and talked face to face. Arjun has been living in Bangalore for some time. He started by saying that he had a story to tell based on some of his life experiences. It was not a story from beginning to end, but it took two and a half hours and Arjun told the story in great detail. Then I realized that there was a movie in that story. But I told Arjun that I needed some time because of my commitments then. Then Arjun and I went to Sharafu-Suhas and told him the story. They too became part of the film (screenplay). I also expressed my desire to have Shaiju Khalid DOP. Based on that, Shaiju also told the story to Khalid. The team of Shaiju Khalid – Sameer Tahir – Aashiq Usman was coming saying that we can produce later. When they came into production then everything was easy.
Feel that the casting of the film was too selectively picked up?
We did a lot of work on the screenplay of the film. The reason for the movie’s delay was nothing but the delay in getting the screenplay as desired. At that time I was able to plan exactly about each of the characters in the film. So we planned to pick the most unsuitable ones.
When it comes to Tovino, it was completely different from the characters he has done so far. It’s simple, but it’s not easy. Only at the beginning did I have to explain the character to Tovino. Later, Tovino did it very professionally and naturally. I was so excited. The performance of Darshana Rajendran and Basil Joseph was similar. These are all people who gave more than what I meant. Sameer Tahir told me the name of Arjun Radhakrishnan who acted in the movie Pada. Tamil actress Sanjana Natarajan is also in the film. Arjun Lal plays another role.
Dear Front is a Bangalore based movie. How challenging was the filming of the Kovid era?
The shooting was very difficult. We shot in Bangalore during the night curfew. There are a lot of night sequences in the movie as well. The shooting took place while talking to the police and following all of their protocols. We only carried a very limited crew. However, we were not sure until two days before the start of the shoot. There were so many restrictions on everything on the border. Our entire crew was in Kerala. By the time they were all brought to Bangalore, Kovid had become positive for two. They had to be sent back and the entire crew had to be replaced. But at that time, the support given by the production team was my courage. Nowhere in the Kovid situation did he have to compromise
As you can see in the trailer of Dear Front, there is a celebration at the beginning and a return for a dear friend at the end. What exactly is Dear Friend?
The film is about friendship friendship and the mystery between it. The film travels through three different eras. I’m not saying there’s a gap of many years. The film tells the story of three eras of the character played by Tovino. This is a story that takes place between a group of friends. But the name of the movie is Dear Friend, not Dear Friend. All this friend has to say is about a friend. Quite simply, when we form a friend group, one of us comes up with a friend who does not exist. But we may feel as close to that friend who came later as we did not feel to that friend. The film also raises the question of whether a boyfriend is practical after marrying a girl.
Where does the occasional break from acting go? What about the upcoming Simon Daniel?
Yes, the next upcoming film I starred in is Simon Daniel. Its shooting is all over. After the release of the movie Dear Front then look at the release of Simon Daniel and everything. I came across some movies in between scripting Dear Front. We need to focus on acting a little more. Definitely will when it comes to good roles.