A queer title, an impressive cast and an uncommon location - Mosayile Kuthira Meenukal has every ingredient to snag your fancy. Canned at the quaint locales of Lakshadweep, the film is high on freshness quotient and promises a high-definition look at the life of islanders. “It’s basically a feel-good entertainer flavoured with subtle humour,” says director Ajith Pillai. ‘Mosa’ means huge wave in local parlance and ‘kuthira meen’ is the predatory swordfish which preys on others for survival. “Their selfish nature is similar to that of humans and the film tries to draw a parallel between the two. All the charters in the film share this common trait,” he adds.
Though the storyline springs from a serious philosophy, Ajith says the film has more of a breezy, fun-oriented feel to it. “The film is a fine blend of drama, entertainment, humour and romance. Though not a thriller it also has an element of suspense. You can call it a feel-good romantic drama,” he explains.
Mosayile Kuthira Meenukal is woven around the chance encounter between four characters played Asif Ali, Sunny Wayne, Swati Reddy and Janani Iyer. “Asif plays Alex Kurien, a rich brat born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Sunny Wayne appears on screen as Akbar Ali, a fisherman. The natives of Lakshadweep speak a dialect of Malayalam which is slightly difficult to decipher. Akbar is an islander and he uses that particular slang,” he says. Asif is paired opposite Janani Iyer who plays a chirpy Kochi girl who travels all the way to Lakshadweep to join the postal department there. Swati Reddy plays Isa, a marine researcher. ”Contrary to her looks she plays a strong and bold character in the film, not an orthodox Muslim woman,” he adds. Nedumudi Venu, Nishant Sagar, Jojo and Chemban Vinod are also part of the cast.
Shot at the scenic coastline of Lakshadweep, location is one major highlight of the film. “You cannot rip the story off its premises. The film shows situations and incidents that can happen only in Lakshadweep. MKM is the second Malayalam film to be shot at the island after a long time, the other being Ramu Kariat’s Dweepu,” he says. Andaman Islands were another location for the film and the climax scenes were shot at a deserted island nearly two-and-a-half hours from Port Blair. The crew had to can the last shots in raging weather and Ajith says it was a scary trip back to the mainland. “That was a particularly stormy day and though there was an alert from the coastguard we were unaware of it. The sea was so rough that it took us nearly 8 hours to comeback alive,” he says.
Though the film seems to be bursting with youthful energy the director says it’s a family-oriented outing.
“You cannot tag it as new-gen or youth-oriented film. It caters to all sections of audience.” MKM also boasts of a brilliant crew as it has Prashant Pillai scoring the music and Abhinandhan Ramanujam cranking the camera. The duo is joining hands once again after last year’s musical blockbuster Amen.
The film produced by Niyas Ismail hits the screens today.