The Name is Honai, John Honai!

John Honai, the soft-spoken villain of In Harihar Nagar, is etched in the   minds of Malayalis and is on par with Nagavalli of Manichithrathazhu or Chanthu of Oru vadakkan Veeragadha. Almost 25 years after the character came alive onscreen, the team of actors, including Riza Bhava who esssayed Honai in the Siddhique-Lal movie, are coming together for a new venture. No prizes for guessing the name of the venture - it is John Honai.

Director of the movie, T A Thoufeek, says John Honai would undergo tremendous changes in look and feel in his movie. “Much like In Harihar Nagar, John Honai is also packaged with laugh-out-loud comedy and gripping thriller elements. All the stars do comedy and the focus was on constructing situational humour. Actor Siddhique has showcased one of his best performances. It is sure to entertain the masses,” says Thoufeek.

“The main attraction of the movie would be what ‘Honai’ of the title is. We have given a spin to Honai and why he makes his journey from Kerala to Dubai is one of the most important elements of the film,” says Thoufeek. The director says most of the shooting happened in Dubai and that he could not have completed it without help from his friends there (Thoufeek had directed many stage shows in Dubai). He also says they have shot at many locations in Dubai that has never been seen in any other Malayalam movies.

The cast includes Mukesh, Siddhique, Jagadish, Asokan, Risa Bhava, Kalabhavan Navas, Kottayam Nazeer, Malavika Menon and Lekshmi Narayan.  Fasal has scripted the movie and Madhu Thillankari has produced it under the banner of El Shaddai Creations. The music is scored by Alex Paul ending his short hiatus from films and Rajarathnam cranks the camera.