KOCHI: He is a prisoner lost in the solitude of his cell and she a scribe caught in daily deadlines. Condemned for double homicide, he keeps proclaiming his innocence and she decides to dig deeper. The basic premise of Munnariyippu erupts with intrigue, a theme tailormade for an intelligent thriller. “But it’s not a conventional murder mystery. Munnariyippu throws forward a kind of entertainment that doesn’t follow any rule book,” says director Venu.
Munnariyippu zooms into the life of C K Raghavan who is serving his prison-term for the past 20 years. “He lives in confinement, but says he hasn’t committed any crime. The storyline stems from his chance encounter with Anjali Arackkal, a struggling journalist. Their meeting activates a chain reaction of events through which the narrative unravels. It’s a film about the politics of basic human nature,” says the cinematographer-director who is back after a long hiatus. While Mammootty and Aparna Gopinath play the leads, Nedumudi Venu, Prathap Pothen, Joy Mathew, Kochu Preman, Sreeraman, Saiju Kurup, Kottayam Naseer and Parvathy are also part of the cast.
Venu says Munnariyippu is the journey of two individuals who come face to face with their innermost instincts. “It’s something more destined than designed. It’s the coming together of two conflicting ideologies and the film explores the dynamics of it,” he adds. He says Munnariyippu is not a movie that can be easily classified into any particular genre. “Yes, the film has a strong element of suspense but that doesn’t make it a typical whodunnit,” he adds.
The film comes with some impressive taglines and thought-provoking banter, mostly mouthed by the hero. “C K Raghavan is not an ordinary prisoner, but an individual with his own philosophies. He has a unique personality, something that stirs the interest of a journalist. So everything you see in the promos are part of the narrative, not some forced-in discourse,” he says.
The film will also be a breather for Mammootty the actor, marking his return to performance-oriented roles. “Munnariyippu might not be a film built on Mammootty’s stardom, but it definitely features one of his career-best performances. It’s the kind of film where craft and performance are equally important, and, without an exception, all actors have come out really well,” says Venu.
He adds that it’s a film that follows its natural flow without any extra embellishment. “There is a general assumption that entertainment is an extension of performing arts. But I believe entertainment is possible in a different way, that is, without resorting to cinematic cliches. Munnariyippu is one such attempt,” he says.
While the director himself has penned the story and cranked the camera, R Unni is the scenarist. The film has its music scored by Bijibal and art direction by Jyothish Shankar. Munnariyippu, produced by Ranjith under the banner of Gold Coin Motion Picture Company, hits the screens this weekend.