ABCD is an out-and-out joyride which narrates the escapades of two US-born youngsters who visit Kerala, their native place, sum up the makers of the film. The movie which hits the screens this Friday has been in the news ever since it went on the floors. Dulquar Salman, who appeared as an NRI in Usthad Hotel dons a similar role in the film. Also, it is the second outing of director Martin Prakkat, whose debut movie, Best Actor starring Mammooty, was a major hit.
Martin says he has been waiting for a different subject for his second flick and worked on it extensively ever since the release of Best Actor in 2010. “The story of ABCD, an acronym for American Born Confused Desi, is inspired from a newspaper article which I read a while ago. The film unfolds some funny incidents in the life of two cousins, Johns Isaac (Dulquar) and Korah Murikkan (Jacob Gregory).”
Naveen Bhasker, who has penned the script of the film along with Martin, further elaborates the storyline. He says, “Johns and Korah are typical expatriates who display the traits of those brought up outside India. In the US, the natives have the tendency to ridicule the foreigners by calling them ‘confused desis’, from which we have developed the title of the film.”
NRIs have some peculiar mannerisms and characteristics. Naveen says that they have closely observed many people who were born and brought up outside. “Such people are generally confused, suffocated by the strains of juggling between two cultures, within their homes and outside. This often tends to create an identity crisis in many among them, and we have tried to include these elements in the film.”
Adapting the mannerism of NRIs was not a big deal for the actors of the film, says Naveen. “Dulquar had spent some years in US as a student, and Jacob Gregory (who is familiar to the Malayali audience as Girigiri, a character of Akkara Kazhchakal, the sitcom which narrated the life of expatriate Malayalis living in the US) is a US citizen.
The scenarist says that though the film is about a socially-relevant subject, it is light-hearted. “It never gets preachy in tone,” he confirms.
The film introduces several new faces to the silverscreen. Along with seasoned actors like Lalu Alex, Vijayaraghavan, Chempil Asokan and Kalpana, newbies Aparna Gopinath, Tovino Thomas, Savannah Schechter and Sajini Sachariah are also part of the venture. Aparna, a well-known theatre artist from Chennai, plays Madhumitha, a friend of the lead duo.
In the US, the major locales for the film’s shoot were New York, New Jersey and Philadalphia. Kochi was the main location in Kerala.
Gopi Sundar is the music director of the film. The song, Johnny Mone Johnny crooned by Dulquar is already creating ripples. Anna Katharina and Suchith Suresan have sung the other two songs. The film is produced by Shibu Thameens under the banner of Thammens Films.