Bineesh Raj owes his directorial debut, Ilai, to the support of his friend and producer, Sujith Stephanos. It wasn’t easy to make the film, he says, as it involved choosing a village, which had no electric poles. “My story is set in the early 90s. After much scouting, we settled for a Thellani village called Udayarkonam that is close to Wayanad. The support of the villagers was a huge plus,” he adds.
On the story, he says, “The events of the film take place in a village near Nagercoil during a time when it was taboo for girls to get educated. The lead character, Ilai, is a girl who views every hurdle as an opportunity.”
Bineesh says he picked Swathy for the title role primarily for her innocent face and flawless Tamil.
The director doesn’t believe in force-feeding messages. “Lessons in a film are those that are best left unsaid.” His job, he adds, is to “make a film that is palatable.”
The role was daunting: Swathy
An Ayurvedic doctor by profession, Swathy Narayanan, made her debut in the Malayalam film, Su..Su..Sudhi Vathmeekam. Acceding that she initially found the idea of playing a 10th grade student daunting, the actress says that she was able to later slip into the character by recalling her own childhood. She says, “Ilai has a burning desire to become a political leader. In a remote village, where girls are not supposed to venture out after dusk, she pursues her goal against insurmountable odds.”