They have been tickling the funny bones of Malayalis since the late 1980s, with their film, Ramji Rao Speaking (1989). The film’s jokes and one-liners have gone viral on WhatsApp and there are Facebook pages based on the punchy dialogues penned down by the humour-loving writer-director duo of Siddique-Lal.
The pair, whose last outing was Mannar Mathai Speaking in 1995, parted ways to become independent filmmakers. But after two decades, and as every Malayali has wished, they are teaming up for another laugh riot, titled King Liar.
Quiz Siddique, who is penning the script, about this long gap, and he says, “We have always stayed in touch and used to discuss the stories of our films. Sometimes Lal used to visit the sets of my films.” Siddique made Hitler and Friends, which was co-produced by Lal.
Meanwhile, Lal did many films and proved his mettle as an actor, and came back to direction after 16 years, by directing the sequel to In Harihar Nagar.
“We came into filmdom as assistants to Fazil sir. We had our own share of jitters, right from our first film, but mental stress is greater for King Liar, since everyone is anxiously waiting for this film. We know that we have taken up a big responsibility on our shoulders as the audience will be comparing it with our previous films,” says Lal, who will be directing King Liar.
Talk more about the movie, Siddique says, “King Liar showcases the changing nature of time. Earlier, a person who told lies was considered a bad person but, nowadays, he is regarded as a smart aleck. Like the title which means Raja nunayan in Malayalam, it narrates the story of Satyanarayanan (played by Dileep), whose character is directly opposite to his name. He makes his living by telling lies.”
Madonna Sebastian, of Premam fame, will play the leading lady. “She is a young and ambitious city-based girl,” says Siddique. “For her, after acquiring a good education, her profession is more important than settling down in marriage.” Lal will also be playing a prominent role, with Asha Sarath.
Siddique, however, does not feel that humour has changed over the years. “Human emotions are universal. Till mankind exists, humour will not change. If comedy would have changed, then why do we consider Charlie Chaplin as the genius of humour? The only change is in the style and way of presentation,” says Siddique.
Interestingly, Siddique-Lal aren’t the only ones to team up in King Liar. They are also teaming up with Ousepachan Vaalakuzhy, one of the co-producers of Ramji Rao Speaking. “It was Ousepachan who first suggested that we two should do a film and that’s how Ramji Rao happened. And after years, it was he who has made our joint comeback a reality,” says Siddique, whose Bodyguard entered the coveted Rs 100 crore club in Bollywood.
The pair has jointly directed and scripted six films (including Godfather, In Harihar Nagar, Vietnam Colony and Kabooliwalah), all of which were hits of that time in Mollywood. Godfather was one of the longest running movies in Kerala in 1991.
King Liar will start rolling on October 15 and will be shot in and around Dubai and Kochi.