Clad in spotless juba-mundu and toying with Ray-Ban shades, Thoppil Joppan will trigger a bout of deja vu. From Kottayam Kunjachan and Sangham to Nasrani and Praise the Lord, it’s an onscreen avatar the actor easily pulls off to near-perfection. “But our Joppan is a true maverick, different from all his other achayan outings. It’s a character with some special nuances making it totally exclusive. And if you examine all such roles you will see that Mammootty has never repeated himself. Each character has his own identity and signature style,” says director Johny Antony.
He calls the Mammootty-starrer ‘a simple, realistic film without much cinematic embellishments’. “We haven’t tried to add extra action or drama to make it more mainstream; at the same time it will be a film that fits new-age sensibilities. Fun will be the basic flavour of the film and then, music by Vidyasagar will be another highlight,“ he adds.
Set in the Kottayam-Idukki belt, Thoppil Joppan follows its hero, an alcoholic achayan. “Joppan is a chronic bachelor. The aftermath of a love failure, he turns to alcohol and stays drunk most of the times. After losing his beloved Joppan falls in love with alcohol, hence the tagline ‘50% Love 50% Alcohol’. At the same time he is a very loveable, friendly guy an easygoing attitude,” Johny says. While Andrea Jeremiah and Mamtha Mohandas step into female leads, Renji Panicker, Salim Kumar, Harisree Ashokan, Alencier and Suresh Krishna are also part of the cast. “Then, Thoppil Joppan has Kaviyoor Ponnamma playing Mammootty’s mother, bringing back the combo after a long gap.”
Johny says the film will be a ‘clean entertainer’ aimed at families. “There will not be any obscene dialogues or profanity disguised as humour. The film has some action scenes, but nothing over-the-top,” he explains. With it’s teasers creating quite a stir and being the mega-star’s next big release, expectations are sky-high for the film. “We don’t have big claims. But the audience will be treated to a simple and humourous Mammootty film,” he says. Thoppil Joppan, produced by Noushad Alathur,, will hit the marquee next week.