THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘Benares’ is a ‘fun-filled class film’, according to its hero Vineeth and one of the heroines, Navya Nair.
In a face-to-face programme organised at Thiruvananthapuram Press Club on Wednesday, the leading crew members of the film said ‘Benares’ was a film which has to be seen by the film buffs of Kerala.
Vineeth, the leading actor of the film, said every character in ‘Benares’ had a meaningful role to play. “There is nothing negative about the film. There is an interesting twist at the end. It is a class film. Music plays a very important role in it. The songs are incredible compositions by M. Jayachandran. The commercial elements in the film go with the flow of the subject,’’ he said.
Working with Kavya Madhavan and Navya Nair was a memorable experience, he added.
Navya said it was one of her best characters done in the last two years. The actress said she felt very tense working along with another heroine in the film. “My apprehension was that my character wouldn’t turn out well. During the initial stages of the shooting, the stills of Kavya and Vineeth were appearing in the newspapers. I had the apprehension that I would be taken for a second heroine,’’ she said.
“But it turned out to be a healthy competition and now I have the satisfaction of having done a good character after ‘Nandanam’’’, she said.
Asked whether she was feeling more secure in the industry after the marriage of Kavya and other leading heroines, Navya said that she had never thought along those lines.
“Navya Nair has not contributed anything to Malayalam cinema. Nobody is inevitable in Malayalam cinema,’’ she said.
When asked whether she was going to be more glamorous, Navya said that she had not played any glamorous role which could be termed as vulgar. “I will never play vulgar roles,’’ she said.
Navya added that she would never work in films that promote the baser instincts of people.
Regarding ‘Benares’, Navya said she was worried that the film could not be released in all the major centres simultaneously.
Director of the film Nemom Pushparaj said he was fortunate that he had got a producer who gave him the freedom to do a good film.
“If producers like him (M.R. Nair) come to the film field, good cinema will get a boost,’’ he said, and requested the film buffs to help those films which had the commitment and a good story.
Producer M.R. Nair, who also wrote the story of the film, said the sights of Varanasi had inspired him to make a film on the oldest spiritual city in the world. Scriptwriter Cheriyan Kalpakavadi said though he was a Christian, the director had shown confidence in entrusting him with the task of doing a story based on a Hindu spiritual background. P. Sukumar is the cinematographer of the film.
trivandrum@epmltd.com