With its chilled one liners and hilarious escapades, ‘Honey Bee’, the debut outing of Jean Paul Lal (Lal Jr) immediately struck a chord with young cinegoers of Kerala. After the rom-com, the director is all set to take a different path in his second outing ‘Hi I am Tony’.
The trailer and posters with a grey tone have already given an impression that the movie is a detour from ‘Honey Bee’. The young writer-director agrees. He says: “’This is an ‘edge of your seat’ movie that roughly falls to the category of a psychological thriller. While ‘Hi I am Tony’ may not evoke laughter in you like the previous one, the movie which happens overnight is sure to make one’s blood run cold. It is a far cry from the thrillers so far made in Malayalam.” The subject has been there in his mind even before the first project, says Jean.
“I opted to do it now because I don’t want myself to get labelled as a director who attempts a particular genre only.”
Actor-director Lal, who has always shown the pluck to reinvent himself in each movie, plays the title character Tony in the movie.
Tony, the business head of an IT company is a successful man in life, and the movie is a peek into his life. The makeover of Lal with a steely glint in his eyes, bald head and thick beard is already the talk of town.
Jean, the proud son who has given a significant role for his father in his debut movie too, says, “Tony is the embodiment of self confidence. Boldness is his signature character.”
About the equation that he shares with Lal as a director, Jean says, “I enjoy working with papa because it is easy to communicate with him. He can easily bring to life what I have conceived in mind.
“Into the life of Tony comes Sameer and Tina who elope and gets hitched, against the wishes of their parents. One of their friends arranges them an apartment, and the story takes an interesting turn from there,” says Jean who pauses here saying that revealing more would mar the suspense of the thriller.
Asif Ali and Miya John plays the couple, and Biju Menon, their friend. Talking about his camaraderie with Asif, who was the lead of ‘Honey Bee’, Jean says, “Sameer’s character is equally significant. Asif and me are friends. I always have the liberty to chide him when he goes wrong while acting.” Lena, Balu and Amith plays other major roles.
Over 90 per cent of the film was shot on a set of an apartment constructed at Kakkanad in Kochi. “The apartment has due importance in the movie since the entire story happens there. We have constructed set with utmost care so as not to make the scenes boring.”
Cinematographer Alby, who was there with Jean for the first movie, cranks the camera for ‘Hi I am Tony’ too. “This is his most challenging movie so far, which has given him plenty of room for experimentation,” says an excited Jean.
Curiously, there are no songs in the movie, but background score plays a significant part, which is handled by Deepak Dev. Jean has already announced his next movie, ‘Driving License’, an out-and-out entertainer with Mammootty and Lal. Sibi Thoottapuram, Joby Mundamattum and Sajin Jaffar produces ‘Hi I am Tony’ under the banner of Ideas Inc and S J M Entertainments. The film hits the screens on Saturday.