KOCHI: Not many would have forgotten the house in Manichitrathazhu (1993), where Thampi Ammavan (Nedumudi Venu) welcomes Nakulan (Suresh Gopi) and Ganga (Sobhana). That bungalow has appeared in several films in different avatars, including as a police station, prison, and party office.
This is Cherupushpam Studio Ltd, a 10,000sq.ft estate in Udayamperoor. Ee Parakkum Thalika, Pathram, Lelam, Runway, CID Moosa, Akashaganga, Vellinakshatram, Pramani,Vikramadithyan, Kammattipadam, Loham, Moothon... the list of hits in which sequences were shot here is long. Over 500 films and teleserials, to give a rough estimate.
It was the late film producer K J Joseph aka Pala Kochettan who transformed this property into a legendary film set location. He purchased the 100-year-old estate in 1975, and registered it as a studio. The first film to be shot here was his own production Ithile Iniyum Varu (1986), starring Mammootty.
For most local residents we bump into, Cherupushpam is “Nedumudi Venu’s house in Manichitrathazhu”. Apparently, the film’s puja and ‘switch-on’ were held here.
Anoop, an autorickshaw driver in the area, gushes about the shooting of the iconic film. “I remember watching the scene where Chandhu (Sudheesh) and Alli (Rudra) quarrel over a newspaper. It was filmed in this compound. Some of the puja scenes in the film were also shot here,” he says.
Sabu Mattamel, who owns a welding workshop nearby, joins the chat. “I was 18 during the filming of Ithille Inniyum Varu,” he recalls. “One day, a printing press unit within the compound was up in flames. Many young men who had gathered to see the shooting, including me, began throwing sand and water to extinguish it. Then (the late actor) Balan K Nair laughed and told us to stay back as it was an intentional fire.”
Sabu proudly adds that he had helped weld the jail door of a police station set during the shoot of Mammootty’s Thuruppugulan.
“Thanks to the studio, the residents were afforded a unique opportunity to encounter film personalities and to know the filmmaking process up close,” says Jayachandran T K, ward member of Udayamperoor. “The expansive property provided convenient sets. Moreover, I have heard that there was a sentiment within the film industry that production in this location would contribute to the box office success. All that’s gone,” he added.
Virtually every major Malayalam actor, including Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Prithviraj, Siddique, Shobana, Manju Warrier and Kavya Madhavan, has been here for shoots, says Ambujakshan, another local resident. “It’s disheartening to see the once-bustling location now appear like a ghost-bungalow,” he adds.
Indeed, today, the studio now stands as a sorry reflection of its past glory, like a fading relic.
Similesh Udayamperoor, who lives near the estate, says local residents believe “some family feud” led to the studio’s closure. “It has been abandoned for about four years,” he adds.
Though members of the family that owns Cherupushpam Studio declined to comment on the issue, an insider concurs that the property has been locked up due to an intra-family property dispute. Things turned awry after the family patriarch, Kochettan, died in 2020.
“After that, there have been disagreements over inheritance,” says the source. “Things might take a legal turn if not settled amicably. We hope that does not happen, and the location starts buzzing again soon.”