Director Halitha Shameem, who made her debut with the coming-of-age children’s adventure film, Poovarasam Peepee, will be next directing a neo-realistic comedy titled Aelay, for S Sashikanth under the YNot Studios banner. The first look of the film, which has the husband-wife filmmaker duo, Pushkar-Gayatri as its creative producers, was released yesterday. The quirky poster superimposes the title font over the wheels of the cycle of an ice cream vendor.
Halitha, who is currently awaiting the release of her second film, an anthology titled Sillukarupatti, says that she had written Aelay’s script several years back, and was waiting for the right producer. “It’s a rural comedy, with the relationship dynamics between a father and son at its core. While Samuthirakani plays the father, Manikandan K (seen recently in Rajinikanth’s Kaala) plays the son. The rest of the cast will be non-actors from the village of Manjunayakanpatti in Dindugal district, where the film will be shot in a single schedule,” she tells us.
Pushkar, talking about his new role as a creative director, says that Aelay is a story they heard from Halitha, when she used to work as their assistant director. “We have long nurtured the dream of bringing stories we love to the big screen. So, when Sashikanth came up with the proposal, we immediately agreed to be a part of it. This will be the first project of our production company, Wallwatcher Films,”
he adds.Aelay, which goes on floors today, is expected to get a release in September.