When Arun Viswam rides into Chottanikkara police station near Kochi on a motorcycle, it’s hard to believe he’s a civil police officer. He looks like a film star with his sunshades, black T-shirt, blue jeans and black boots.
He could be a star in the making. Arun hit the media spotlight when his feature film, Kolumittayi, won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Children’s Film recently.The film is set in an idyllic village where school students Unni and Rony meet in class and rub each other the wrong way. The story highlights their rivalries through a painting competition, and ends up with the boys becoming friends.
The movie was released on November 4 last year, but after demonetisation, the audience dwindled. “So we began screenings in schools. It’s a film that reveals the hearts and minds of children today,” says Arun.
Almost all the actors worked for free.
They included Mollywood professionals such as Saiju Kurup, Krishna Prabha, Devi Ajith and Dinesh Prabhakar, and 30 child artistes. Thanks to the award, the satellite rights have been snapped up by a Malayalam TV channel, enabling Arun and producer Abhijith Asokan to recoup the costs.
Arun has worked as an assistant director in Mollywood director Abrid Shine’s hit films 1983 and Action Hero Biju, apart from the National Award-winning film Oridam. “These experiences gave me the confidence to venture out on my own,” he says.
Arun is readying to write his next script. “It’ll be based on my police experiences,” he says. There’s an advantage of working in a police station. “You are able to see life first-hand,” says Arun. “Many things that people will not reveal to their friends or neighbours, they’ll blurt it out at a station. You hear a lot of interesting stories. My script will be on one such experience.”