Coming into M-Town as a child artist in Padippura in 1989, and in the same year bagging the state award for the best child artist for playing Chandu in Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha, Vineeth Kumar has held films close to his heart since then.
Vineeth who charmed the audience with his boyish smile and deep brown eyes onscreen, has donned a new role. He is set to make his debut as a director with the Fahadh Faasil-starrer Ayaal Njanalla.
“Each and every aspect of film making allured me. Be it acting, cinematography or direction. So while I was into acting, I wished to learn the nuances of direction,” says Vineeth.
Vineeth who has penned the script for director Ranjith’s story, says that Ayaal Njanalla is a fun movie. “It will be a light-hearted movie with flavours of romance, humour and drama mixed together in equal proportions,” says Vineeth.
The film narrates the story of Prakashan, portrayed by Fahadh, who is settled in Gujarat for the last 15 years. “Prakashan is staying with his uncle in Kutch and is helping him in his tyre business. For Ranjith the thread for the story came from the life of people from Koyilandi. Many people from Koyilandi have migrated to Gujarat to do tyre business,” explains Vineeth. T G Ravi dons the role of Prakashan’s uncle in the film.
The rest of the plot revolves around Prakashan’s travails to Bangalore for a few days and how the journey changes everything for him.
Mrudula Murali and Divya Pillai will be playing the female leads in the film. “Mrudula plays Isha, a half Malayali girl from Kutch. Though Prakashan loves this girl passionately, they both haven’t disclosed their feelings. Isha is a normal girl who is running a stitching unit,” explains Vineeth. Divya portrays the role of the girl whom Prakashan meets in Bangalore.
Shedding his metrosexual looks in Ayaal Njanalla, Fahadh is seen sporting a mane and short whiskers. Ask Vineeth about the looks, he says, “Right from the beginning of pre-production stage, Prakashan’s role sketch was defined. Be it lookwise or his mannerisms, for Fahadh as an actor this role is a challenging one. He had the full freedom to explore the actor’s space for this role.”
About the title Vineeth says, “The title which has ‘ayal’ (another person) and ‘Njan’ (Myself), Prakashan is reflected in ‘Njan’.” On his take on acting and direction, Vineeth says, “Actor is a tool while direction allows more creative freedom.
The whole craft of filmmaking, right from the formation of a story is an interesting process. There were a lot of times I was stressed out and was under a lot of pressure. But in all those situations, I was exploring and knowing myself.”
Renji Panicker as a bussinessman in Bangalore, Sijoy Varghese, Aileena Catherin Amon, reality show fame dancer Akshat Singh, Tini Tom, Nobi, Dileesh Nair, Jins Baskar, Sreekumar and Sreekanth Menon will play prominent roles in the film.
Manu Ramesan, son of Ramesh Narayanan, has composed the music for the two songs in the film. Shamdat has wielded the camera. The film produced under the banner of RS Media Vision will hit the screens on July 31.