Writer Paulo Coelho now has a Kerala connection. A film titled ‘Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho’ is releasing soon, and an amused Coelho has retweeted a poster of the film he, quite possibly, discovered inadvertently.
Although Coelho has not given out his thoughts on a film inspired by him, his followers on Twitter had much to say. One of those who tweeted back to him was Nyla Usha, a popular Dubai-based radio jockey and Malayalam film actress, who said the upcoming movie was about how the author was an inspiration to Malayalis.
Several Malayali tweeters “felt proud” and said it was “so cool” that Paulo Coelho himself had retweeted the poster. One even expressed disbelief at the tweet, saying he initially thought it was photo-shopped to look like the writer’s tweet.
One Malayali user in his unbridled enthusiasm said, “This will be the biggest hit in Asia, Sir. We are awaiting its release,” and got trolled for exaggerating, in Malayalam! Malayalis have been famously trolling people in their native tongue, and in once instance, embattled tennis star Maria Sharapova was at the receiving end after she remarked that she did know who Sachin Tendulkar was.
Several others too tweeted back in Malayalam, poking fun at others who commented on the post.
Director Siddhartha Siva of the film ‘Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho’ (KPAC) starring Kunchako Boban, has told a news site the film is inspired in small portions by Coelho’s most famous work, ‘The Alchemist’, and that this was not his first Coelho inspiration. In 2013, he chose the title, Zahir, for a film because he felt Coelho’s definition of the word was apt for its story.
KPAC is planned for release during Kerala’s Onam festival.