Maradona and Kammattipadam actor Shalu Rahim will be seen next in debutant Abhinesh Appukuttan's Jallianwala Bagh. The film is set inside a college hostel and explores the events happening there. "The story's focus is more on the hostel than the actual campus," says Abhinesh, who also penned the script.
"The hostel sees a mix of people from different cultures and communities. Our film will take an in-depth look at the lives and struggles of the inmates. We even have some blind students in the story. We are not, however, interested in the typical humour and drinking scenes. This is something else entirely. We hope to make some statements through the film."
On choosing the title, Abhinesh explains, "The Jallianwala Bagh incident was a turning point in the freedom struggle. The events in our film are provoked by a small incident, and a similar struggle is provoked by it. This is not about campus politics." Apart from Shalu Rahim, Anwar Sherif and Sudhi Koppa appear in supporting roles. "Shalu plays a student from a particular district. He is an outsider, and this is a story about outsiders and how they are looked at differently. But it's also about how they come together when something happens," adds Abhinesh. A promo song from the film was launched by Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi recently.
The team recently wrapped up the first schedule and the second schedule is about to begin soon. Linto Thomas & Pr ince Hussain are producing under the banner of Stories and Thoughts Productions. Sajid Nazer is handling the camera and Raymond Derrick Crasta the editing. Manikandana Ayyappa is putting together the music.