A possessive wife, a carefree husband and a gorgeous ‘other’. Throw in a handful of cronies, free-flowing humour and separate timelines - that’s Sidharth Bharathan’s ‘Chandrettan Evideya’ for you. The film, based on a short story by Santhosh Echikkanam, seems to have every ingredient to make it a complete family entertainer. “It’s a realistic story told with a generous dash of humour. You can easily relate to almost all characters and situations,” says scenarist Santhosh Echikkanam.
‘Chandrettan Evideya’ is a realistic take on contemporary middle-class life woven around a couple. “The film basically records the conflict between a demanding wife and a slaphappy husband,” he says. Chandramohan, the hero, works as an assistant section officer in Thiruvananthapuram while his wife Sushama and their son stays in Thrissur. “Chandran is more than happy in the capital leading a faux-bachelor life with a bunch of friends. He is missing from the scene whenever he has to fulfill some family responsibility and Sushama is not taking it lightly,” he explains the basic premise.
Sushama, a clerk with BSNL, programmes her husband through phone. Her routines calls start six in the morning and he has to answer her ‘where’ and ‘why’ queries all the day. “Almost all married men are accustomed to such calls asking them their whereabouts. Sushama loves her husband, but after a point her never-ending interference becomes a nuisance,” he says. So, nearly a decade after entering the wedlock Chandran rebounds to a bachelor life. “And at this point another girl enters his life and what follows forms the crux of the storyline,” he adds.
The film also promises Dileep a break from his usual slapstick outings. “The film will mark his return to the endearing and realistic characters he used to play some ten-twelve years back,” says the scenarist. While Dileep and Anusree play Chandran and Sushama, Namitha Pramod, Mukesh, Suraj Venjaramood, Chemban Vinod and KPAC Lalitha are also part of the cast.
The highlight of the film is that it has two parallel plots – one contemporary and the other dating some 1000 years back. “The most interesting element of the film is this. It lays side by side what happens now and ages ago in an intriguing style,” he says.
The film, produced by Sameer Thahir, Shyju Khalid and Ashiq Usman under the banner of Handmade Filmz, will hit the screen on May 1.