KOCHI:We know George finally found his love in Premam, but did the PT sir find it? Ever wondered where Raghavan, the painter who wouldn’t just finish his chore in Manichitrathazu disappeared to? Was Crispin’s involvement in the revenge drama, Maheshinte Prathikaran, a mere coincidence? Their stories may still be unfinished, but techie/writer Mridul George wanted closure. He believed their tales need to be told and that’s how he set out to spin their stories and his work ‘Pathi Murinja Ticketukal, a fan-fiction published by Papyrus Books’, is probably the first fanfiction in Malayalam.
Mridul, a senior software programmer with Visual IQ, says he started writing fanfictions - he called them derivative works or spin-offs for a long time - because he found himself pondering the fate of these characters even after the movie ended. “Creating their stories was my mode of answering these questions,” he says.But, why them? Mridul says all of his protagonists are sidekicks and those on the fringes because their stories are never told. “Heroes already have their story,” he adds.
It all started a decade ago when Mridul began to think from the perspective of Mundakkal Shekaran, the antagonist in Devasuram. “I wrote the story ‘Devasura Kathekku Oru Pinkurippu’ inspired by Randamoozham, the famous work by M T Vasudevan Nair. My friends loved it and it got me a bit of popularity in social media too. Then, I started writing a few more,” says Mridul.
Mridul agrees it is a lot of fun spinning their tales. “It is an interesting process. Fanfictions itself are an honour to the talented brains that created these characters. And, I am paying a tribute to them through my works. I have taken extreme care not to mutilate these characters,” says Mridul.
Pathi Murinja Ticketukal brings back the characters in Johny Walker, Sarvakalasala, Maheshinte Prathikaram, Manichitrathazhu, Thondimuthalum Drisakshiyum, Aram Thampuran, Ennu Ninte Moitheen and Usthad Hotel, among others.But, not every bit is a figment of his imagination. In ending notes, Mridul briefly talks about why and how he reached their world. While discussions in social media triggered him on the one on Ustad Hotel, its a friend’s persuasion that set him on Appu’s (Ennu Ninte Moitheen) trail.
“It is when I noticed that PT Sir Vimal was missing on the marriage scenes of George that set me thinking about what would have happened to him. Like this every other story has a trigger,” says Mridul, who is an avid blogger since 2006.Rightfully, Mridul is all set to make his tinseltown debut as a scriptwriter for Luca, starring Tovino Thomas.