Redefining Love Through Ennu Ninte Moideen

R S Vimal talks about Ennu Ninte Moideen, his debut outing inspired by a real-life romance

Some love stories are sweet and some star-crossed, but very few burn their way to the hearts. At Mukkom in Kozhikode lives Kanchanamala, the widow of a man she never married, an icon of unswerving love that could transcend tragedy, and even death. “A woman who survived 25 years of house-arrest and the untimely demise of her beloved, I felt her story was much more than a local legend,” says R S Vimal whose Ennu Ninte Moideen is inspired by the real-life romance of Moideen and Kanchanamala. 

Theirs was not a trivial, candy floss romance and Vimal says it’s the rarity of their story that prompted him to go for a visual retelling. “It was no ordinary love story, but one ‘fact is stranger than fiction’ scenario. I was floored by the passion and profundity of their love. It will continue to inspire artists even centuries later,” says Vimal who had earlier made a documentary ‘Jalam Kondu Murivettaval’ based on Moideen-Kanchana story.

Moideen and Kanchanamala grew up together, their fathers thick friends sharing the same secular outlooks. “She was the daughter of a Hindu landlord and he belonged to the most reputed Muslim family of Mukkom. But all hell broke loose when love blossomed between the two. Moideen was thrown out of his house and Kanchana was kept under house arrest that lasted for a long 25 years,” Vimal says. While Prithviraj and Parvathy play the lead couple, Sai Kumar, Lena, Bala, Tovino Thomas, Kalaranjini, Sasikumar, Sivaji Guruyavoor, Mukundan, Sudheer Karamana and Master Roshan are also part of the cast. Since the story is set in the 60s and demanded a vast canvas, it took nearly three years for pre-production alone. “It’s a content with immense possibilities, there is scope for all cinematic elements in it. I wanted to capture it without losing the intensity and was keen on having the right actors and technicians on board. It took me three years to complete the screenplay, and before the filming I made a digital story board so that nothing goes amiss. I invested nearly seven years in the film,” he adds.   

Vimal says the film remains close to the original story as no fictional tweaking was done. “Moideen was a born hero, so I didn’t have to attribute any heroism to his character. There may be some minor changes to suit the visual medium, but the core story remains intact,” he says. Rain is an integral part of Enne Ninte Moideen as it sets the mood of the narrative in more ways than one. “It may sound like a cliche, but in the film rain is so intrinsic that it blends with the storyline to a T,” he explains.

Ennu Ninte Moideen is also a musical with three renowned composers on board. “M Jayachandran and Ramesh Narayan have scored the music while the background score is by Gopi Sundar. Then, the film has songs sung by almost all popular singers,” he says. The film has Jomon T John cranking camera, lending a poetic edge to the visuals. The film produced by Suresh Raj, Binoy Shankarath and Ragy Thomas under the banner of Newton Movies, will the hit screens this Friday.  

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