In the wee hours of a beautiful morning, when the sun had just shrugged off the chill, Vineeth Sreenivasan mounted the power-hang glider, an open aircraft which has seats that will barely fit two people, and off he went, up in the air, flitting across the sky.
Gearing up for his next movie Aby, Vineeth Sreenivasan gets talkative about its theme, the cast and, flying, of course.
How was the whole ‘conquering the skies’ experience?
The best part of Aby, was that I got to learn so many things about flying. Not the scientific part of it, but surface-level things that I never knew up until now. There was a pilot with me in the hang glider, of course, but it was wonderful, the experience of touching the skies.
Could you describe Aby for us?
Aby, the title character, is a simpleton from a village, who wants to fly. He is quite curious about this dream of his and works hard to achieve it. It remains to be seen where his journey takes him.
How was it working with a debutant director?
I’ve been associated with director Srikant Murali for a long time, from the time he used to assist director Priyadarshan. I did the KSFE [Kerala State Financial Enterprises] advertisement with him too, and a comfort level was set right from the time. It has been great working with someone who is passionate about his craft. As for the scriptwriter, Santhosh Echikkanam, I’ve been an admirer of his works, be it Annayum Rasoolum or Chandrettan Evideya.
A bunch of fresh faces can be seen in the
posters. Are there many new actors?
That’s another good thing about the film. We’ve engaged a lot of theatre actors and a few notable actors who have had small roles in some of the recent films. I am thoroughly enjoying working with a new set of people, as well as a different crew. There’s also Manish Choudhary, a popular Hindi film actor, who is doing a significant role.
Aju Varghese seems to be essaying a quirky character, going by the poster, isn’t he?
Aju and I have a special equation in the film, I’d rather have the audience see it for themselves than say it now. We’re both going through different stages of our lives, starting from very young, to school days to teenage and then adulthood. Also, Marina Michael Kurisingal, the female lead, has an interesting role to play.
And when is Aby taking off?
We are all waiting for the strike to be called off. (The Malayalam Film Producers Council and Distributors Association have locked horns with the Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation over revenue-sharing). Our initial plan was to release the movie in January. But now, things are no longer in our hands. There are so many movies lined up for release. So, we’re waiting, fingers crossed.