Politics has been an oft-discussed theme in many Sathyan Anthikkad films. While the evergreen satire ‘Sandesham’ released in 1991 was a humorous take on the ideological rivalry of two brothers, movies like ‘Samooham’ (1993), Pingami (1994) had glimpses of politics in them. The seasoned director is up with his next outing, ‘Oru Indian Pranayakatha’, which is about the life and love of a young political activist and a non-resident Indian girl.“Politics is only the backdrop of this film. The film, a fine love story, primarily unravels the untold love story of two people who meet unexpectedly,” says the director. Starring Fahad Fazil and Amala Paul in lead roles, the shooting of the film is progressing in Kottayam.
Oru Indian Pranayakatha is a love story told with a difference, says the director. The film has tinges of romance, family drama and contemporary political drama.
“Fahad plays Aymanam Siddharth, the youth wing president of a major political party. Into his life comes Irin (played by Amala Paul) from Canada who visits Kerala to shoot a documentary. She is in search of an assistant to help her shoot the film and approaches Uthup (Innocent). She promises `2000 per day for the assistant and Siddharth who has financial issues agrees to help her. The film tells the untold and poignant relation that grows among two individuals who are poles apart from each other,” explains the director.
Like every Sathyan Anthikkad film, Oru Indian Pranayakatha too is simple in its approach towards life, says Iqbal Kuttipuram who has penned the script of the film. “It has been my long term aspiration to pen a script for the director. The film has every ingredient that the audience expects from a Sathyan Anthikkad movie,” he says.
Elaborating more on the characters, Iqbal says, “Siddharth is an ambitious political leader who dreams to grow big one day in Indian politics. Though he is not corrupt by nature, Siddharth has the knack to reach heights. Unlike the cliched NRI, Irin is a politically and socially aware person who speaks perfect Malayalam.”
This is for the first time Fahad, the blue-eyed-boy of M-town is associating with Sathyan.
On casting him as the lead, the director says, “Fahad is an actor with immense flexibility and less inhibitions. He has the flair to do many roles that Mohanlal did in his early days of acting. This film expects to bring him more close to the general audience of the state.”
The director who religiously takes only one film a year says, “Freshness is the unique quotient of Oru Indian Pranayakatha.
I have always preferred to work in the comfort zone of my long time associates. But this movie is a change. After Puthiya Theerangal, I wanted a fresh start. Usually the title of my films are decided by the final schedule of the shoot. But for this film, we decided the title much earlier.”
Sathyan who has a twelve film camaraderie with music director Ilayaraja has casted Vidyasagar for this film. There are four songs in the film. While lyrics are penned by Rafeeq Ahammed, the singers are K S Chithra, Najim Arshad, Sreeram and Abhirami Ajay. Pradeep Nair cranks the camera.
Oru Indian Pranayakatha will reach theatres for this Christmas.