KOCHI: There is a saying: "It is harder to make someone laugh than it is to make them cry." No matter how hard you try, erupting a laughing riot demands a higher effort and uniqueness in your approach. Director Rohith Narayanan's first short film 'Kaboom' ventures into the little-explored area of spoofs and did the same.
The film starring Abu Salim in the lead role as Guru was produced under the banner of Flaming Dragon Entertainment. What makes it different is the maker's decision to walk away from the stereotypical plots.
"When we thought about making a short film, our team decided to move away from mainstream ideas. We realised there is a need to experiment in the spoof comedy genre. Our prime priority was to convey a different emotion to the audience," says Rohith.
The film penned by Padayottam-fame writer Arun AR has won over 2 lakh views within a month of its release on YouTube. Casting Abu Salim, who usually dons the roles of villains in feature films also proved to be a boon for the makers.
"When approaching Abu sir, our intention was to explore a new face to make the impact. Even he was very excited to play the goon who creates laugh instead of fear," says the 28-year-old who currently works as an associate director in Mammooty's Pathinettam Padi.
Apart from Abu Salim, the cast included Sivadas Kannur, James Elia, Santhosh Lakshman, Rajiv Rajan, Prashobh Prabhakar, Pradeesh Koshy, Jithan V Soubhagom, Ashlee Issac Abraham and Sivan Thiroor Studio.
Interestingly, Kaboom used the intercut scenes of Mohanlal-starrer Vandanam to make a funny twist in the end. "When Arun and I conceived the base story, we decided to use the Vandanam into it. Initially, we thought of using it only in dialogue and later decided to add the scenes to make a special effect. Apart from Chirakodinja Kinavukal, no other film has explored spoof in Malayalam. I am glad we were able pull it off," says Rohith. He has worked as associate director in Hi I'm Tony, Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi, Anuraga Karikkin Vellam and Kavi Uddheshichathu..?
Kaboom was shot by Sajith Purushan and edited by Bijish Balakrishnan. Sankar Sharma composed the music and art direction handled by Anil Kumar. Suhasir Mohammad and Merlin Babu did the costumes and casting respectively.