On a night after work, he runs into her on the busy streets of Bangalore.
He is the quintessential metro-sexual lad, enjoying his youth. She is a beautiful and ambitious girl who is in the city to spend time with her parents. They fall for each other and their love story, which begins that day, traverses myriad emotional terrains through the next 100 days.
Jenuse Muhammed’s debut venture ‘100 Days of Love’, which will hit the theatres on March 20, is a celebration of their love.
An ode to timeless love, the movie is a romantic drama set against the backdrop of Bangalore, the city of the young. “Dulquer Salman plays the ‘he’, a journalist who lives with his friend played by Shekhar Menon, and Nithya Menen plays ‘she’. And, as for the names of their characters, it is a suspense,” says Jenuse Muhammed, son of veteran director Kamal.
“100 Days of Love’ is a film that anyone can relate to. It is a tale of the friendship of the duo and essentially an emotional ride. The movie has captured Bangalore in all its sensuous beauty and its youthful spirit will be reflected in the frames,” says Jenuse.
The posters of the movie, which are already making waves, reminds one of last year’s blockbuster ‘Bangalore Days’ but Jenuse says that the similarity ends with the lead characters and the city.
“Both deal with youth and their lives. But, content-wise both are very different. But, it’s sure going to be an entertainer like it,” says the director.
He adds that the movie, however, is his (and Dulquer’s) answer to the “so-called new-generation movies”.
“Our movie is a new-gen movie which the entire family can enjoy. I have seen a few movie tagged new-gen and I think they are not something that a family can watch together. But, ‘100 Days of Love’ is something that everyone can identify with. Dulquer-Nithya pair is something families adore. Their onscreen chemistry is great,” says Jenuse Muhammed.
The pairing has been greatly appreciated with the teasers of both Mani Ratnam’s latest ‘Ok Kanmani’ and ‘100 Days of Love’ releasing at the same time and Jenuse believes this has only helped the movie. “The trailers of ‘Ok Kanmani’ were released first. The arrival of both at the same time has boosted the publicity of my movie,” says the director who states that he is a bundle of nerves.
Is the present lean time in moviedom a scare? “Not at all, I think people didn’t hit theatres because nothing was there to beckon them. A good entertainer will have them rushing to the cinemas. It basically boils down to the content,” he says.
Though he claims to be a stranger to films till the thread for the movie came up, Jenuse says his father has been a source of inspiration for him. And, did he turn to his father for suggestions? “I consulted him on the project. It was he who told me how the entire industry works and the practical side of film-making. I was totally an outsider until this happened and my father helped me with this. But, he never interferes with the creative side,” says Jenuse.
‘100 Days Of Love’ is produced by K V Vijayakumar. Govind Menon of Thaikkudam Bridge has composed the background score. Pratheesh Varma cranks the camera.