'Vineeth Sreenivasan' and his love for Chennai is a much-celebrated meme material in Malayalam social media circles. After 'Hridayam'—which beautifully romanticised Chennai—Vineeth refuted rumours that his next is also a Chennai-based narrative. As it turns out, he was being deceptive. His new film, 'Varshangalkku Shesham' is set in Chennai of the yore, Madras. While 70s Madras is alien to Vineeth, he was always familiar with the land and its vibrant cinema culture through the stories narrated by his father Sreenivasan, and his industry friends. It was a time when Malayalam cinema was completely based in Madras, with Kodambakkam serving as the hub of all aspirants. Most of today’s industry giants were shaped by the sweat, struggles and setbacks they faced in Kodambakkam. 'Varshangalkku Shesham', Vineeth says, is inspired by all these “Madirashi kathakal”. “Right from my childhood, I’ve been hearing numerous stories about their Kodambakkam days. Most of these incidents happened way before I was even born, but they still got me fascinated with the city and the vibe there. The seed for 'Varshangalkku Shesham' was sown then.”
There’s a lot of hype around 'Varshangalkku Shesham', primarily because of its star-studded cast and some rumoured surprises in it. Ahead of the film’s release on Thursday, we catch up with Vineeth to discuss more about his inspirations and creative choices.
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Malayalam cinema has seen many films like 'Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback', 'Thirakkatha', and 'Udayananu Tharam' that showcased the good, bad, and ugly side of the film industry. How different is 'Varshangalkku Shesham'?
All the films that you mentioned are my absolute favourites. In fact, I even revisited 'Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback' before starting 'Varshangalkku Shesham'. I think our audience loves to watch these films because it’s a world that they are not familiar with. Beyond shooting, they still are not aware of 80 percent of the process that goes behind. So, naturally, there will be a curiosity to watch such films. What makes 'Varshangalkku Shesham' interesting is its time span, which traverses from the 1970s to 2023. The story is primarily about two friends, Venu and Murali, who arrive in Kodambakkam in the 70s to make it big in cinema. Through their journey, we get to see the changing dynamics of the film industry over the years. Beyond cinema aficionados, this film, I hope, will connect with anyone who has ever dreamt of achieving something in life.
Friendship is a recurring theme in almost all your films...
Friendship is an emotion I value a lot in life. Naturally, it reflects on all my work. Even after 20 years, if I continue doing films, I’m sure an element of friendship will still be there in my stories.
Your brother Dhyan had earlier said that Vinod of 'Thattathin Marayathu' is a reflection of your real personality and Umesh in Oru Vadakkan Selfie is partly him. In that sense, is Venu’s character from 'Varshangalkku Shesham' based on your father, Sreenivasan?
That’s a good one, but I can’t precisely say if Venu is entirely based on Achan. Before moving to Kodambakkam and entering cinema, Achan was actively doing plays in our hometown. In the film, Venu also treads a similar path. So, their journeys might be similar, but I haven’t incorporated Achan’s character traits as such.
It’s not easy to recreate a bygone era, but you have executed this film in a short period. How long have you been planning this project?
Generally, as per our industry standards, a film of this scale demands at least 70-80 days of shoot. But we shot this film in just 40 days. We could do that only because we did extensive pre-production for over six months. It was not easy as several scenes in the film had around 300 junior artists recreating the exuberance and vastness of Kodambakkam. We had to show all the hustle and bustle without any compromise on quality as we were catering to an informed audience. The only way we could save the expenditure was by reducing the number of days of shoot, so we perfectly planned everything. I’m proud of my crew’s efficiency. There have been days when we filmed the first shot at 7 am with 300 junior artists. It might sound easy for an outsider, but it’s not.
What were your references for the Kodambakkam portions? Did you interact with the industry people from that era?
I didn’t meet a lot of people for this film, but over the years, I have come across many from those days and gathered their experiences. Moreover, we researched old photos and videos of Kodambakkam and several other parts of Madras. We also learned about the shooting equipment used at that time and sourced them from various places. Right from the 2C camera preferred for shooting those days to the exaggerated set properties used for indoor shooting, we arranged them all. It’s a lot of effort put together within a few days.
You have been nurturing this idea for so long, but what prompted you to make it now? Was it the success of a comparatively bigger film like 'Hridayam' that inspired you?
Yes, this idea has been there with me even before my college days, but I hadn’t streamlined it into a screenplay. I gained that confidence only after 'Hridayam'. More than commercial success, it taught me how to handle a film with many characters. When there are several characters, it’s easy to get distracted from the core story. After attempting that challenge fairly well in Hridayam, I sensed that I was finally ready to take up 'Varshangalkku Shesham'. Even during the scripting, I was feeling confident and didn’t have to discuss it with anyone. When an idea is with you for as long as 18 years, it’ll age like fine wine, right?
With names like Dhyan, Pranav Mohanlal, Nivin Pauly, Kalyani Priyadarshan, and Basil Joseph involved, this is indeed a dream cast. Though most of them were introduced by you, they are all big stars now. Did their presence make things easier or add more pressure?
No, I didn’t feel any pressure. They were all very cooperative, otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to finish a film like this so quickly. They all adjusted dates between multiple other commitments because there are several combination scenes in this film. Also, I didn’t cast them just because of friendship. I was certain that they all have some importance in the story. I was keen that not one person should get the feeling of being misused.
Lately, Dhyan has been one of the busiest actors in Malayalam. Even while most of his films tanked, he was always hopeful about 'Varshangalkku Shesham'. Any reason why you always persisted with Dhyan?
Much before I started writing, I knew I had to get three people for this film to click—Dhyan, Appu (Pranav), and Nivin. I could not imagine this film without them. I’m not claiming this will be a new chapter in Dhyan’s acting career but I can confidently say that he has performed wonderfully well. I’m very happy, both as a filmmaker and a brother.
Pranav in 'Hridayam' was a revelation, but in the promos released so far from this film, there are a lot of Mohanlal shades to his performance. Was it deliberate?
Pranav is not imitating Lal uncle, it’s just part of his system. He has inherited those genes, like we all have from our parents. His character in the film is a very flamboyant personality and Lal uncle has done many such roles. Maybe that’s why we feel the similarity. But interestingly, Appu hasn’t seen most of these films.
There’s a lot of buzz about Nivin’s character in the film. His portions look like a satire on star worship culture...
I’m also eagerly looking forward to the reception for his role. One thing I can promise is that we haven’t played it safe. People love seeing Nivin having fun, like in 'Oru Vadakkan Selfie', 'Premam' and 'Love Action Drama'. That’s exactly what we have tried in this film as well.
While your films have a good commercial track record, there is still a section who criticise your works as being cringeworthy...
It’s all part of the profession, but I’m aware that most of these criticisms were after 'Hridayam'. Portraying romantic expressions is like walking a tightrope. When Hridayam was released, everyone loved the film and moved on. It was after the scenes and songs were repeatedly going around on Instagram reels and wedding videos that people got tired of it. If you are consuming the same content over some time, especially when it’s romance, it naturally gets boring. I feel it’s the repetitive viewing that has now made people call it ‘cringe’.
If you were to work on another romantic film in the future, is there something you’d like to improve?
I guess I’ll be more careful with the dialogues. I’ve put extra effort into that part in 'Varshangalkku Shesham'. I wanted to ensure the 70s Malayalam is not too heavy At the same time, I’ve also used certain words and expressions that we’re all familiar with but don’t use anymore. In the 70s, the way people expressed emotions was beautifully dramatic. I’ve tried to retain that.
What next?
'Oru Jaathi Oru Jaathakam', in which I’ve played the lead, is up for release. I’m also planning to start work on my next directorial soon. Usually, I take a lot of time for scripting, but this time a friend is writing. We have been in discussions for 2-3 years now and the screenplay is almost ready. It’s a new genre from what I’ve done before.