Revenge, as we all know, is best served cold. Vindictive, dark and violent, it offers a sure-fire premise and some shocker quotient to the plot. And, M Padmakumar’s Kanal comes with all these advantages, promising a gritty and suspense-packed ride. The film, that boasts of a striking cast, is built around the lives of three individuals played by Mohanlal, Anoop Menon and Atul Kulkarni. “‘Kanal has the flavours of a revenge thriller and road movie,” says S Suresh Babu, the scenarist of the film.
Kanal is set against the backdrop of recession, a time when the ripples of economic collapse were being felt in the United Arab Emirates. “It shows how the global phenomenon affected the lives of three individuals in three different ways.“ Suresh says it’s a thriller with a contemporary subject at its core. “It deals with a socially relevant subject, which is told in a fresh-and-brilliant style. It might be the first time a Malayalam film is tackling such a theme,” he adds.
Every end has an old beginning, reads the tagline of the film and Suresh says it, along with the title, hints at the revenge track. “Ember keeps burning despite its deceptive appearance; though coated in ashes it never loses its fire. In the film it’s the memories that lead the character towards vengeance,” he says.
Mohanlal plays John David, an animator, while Anoop Menon steps into the shoes of Anantharaman, a media professional. Atul Kulkarni appears as Kuruvila Mathew Ipe, another key character. “Though it’s a total Mohanlal film, Anantharaman and Kuruvila are not satellite characters, they are very integral to the storyline,” he explains. The film seems equally strong on the female front with three lead ladies including Honey Rose, Sheelu Abraham and Nikita. “Honey Rose plays Anna, a school teacher and Nikita’s character is that of an entrepreneur,” he adds.
Kanal is not a film that endorses the conventional concepts of hero and villain. “The film leaves behind such a question, not does it follow the accepted format of thrillers,” he says. The film has two timelines - 2009 when the Malayalis in Middle East were hit by recession and the present time. “Another highlight of the film is its craft. The structure and making of the film are totally out-of-the-box, it breaks all norms” he says.
The film has been shot in a spate of locations including Qatar, Karwar, Kochi, Hyderabad and Goa. “Travel and different terrains are also an important part of the narrative. We have tried to incorporate the geography of the places in a clever manner,” he says. Kanal is also a film in which Mohanlal-Padmakumar-Suresh Babu trio is coming together after ‘Shikkar’. The film has Vinod Illampally cranking the camera while Ouseppachan and Vinu Thomas score the music. ‘Kanal’, produced by Abraham Mathew, under the banner of Abaam Movies, will hit the marquee this Thursday.