THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An event to felicitate the team behind Kathakali drama movie ‘Kaliyachan’ was organised by the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club on Monday. Filmed in 2012, the movie will finally hit the big screen, under the banner of East Coast on Friday.
The film that was conceptualised 12 years ago, would not have materialised had it not been for the support given by producer National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), director Farook Abdulrahiman said during the ceremony. “My initial acquaintance with ‘Kaliyachan’ happened during my pre-degree days and I immediately felt a deep connect with the places and persons in the work. I prepared the first draft of the project nine years ago and with every subsequent reading, I managed to re-edit and polish the copy and in the meantime, I looked for a producer to take up the project. Finally 12 years later, I got the approval for release of the movie,” Abdulrahiman said.
Actor Manoj K Jayan, who plays the lead in the movie, said that he was blessed to be a part of the project and spoke about the many challenges he had to face in order to portray a Kathakali artist convincingly. Actor Manju Pillai, who plays his mother, spoke of the challenges she had to face for the role.
Capturing the essence of the art-form in the background music, Bijibal, who wrote the background score for the movie said that much of his inspiration for the project came from Kathakali itself. “As a child, I used to listen to Kathakali music and the task was an easy one. Learning ‘Kathakali Sangeetham’ is good for those interested in cine-music,” he said. East Coast Vijayan was present during the occasion.