A day after the first look of Romancham (2023) was released, Siju Sunny shared a photo on his Instagram handle. It was a collage of him with Soubin Shahir from the sets of Parava (2017) and Romancham. The first photo was taken during one of Siju's umpteen audition attempts and the latter while shooting for Romancham, his first big break. Like most aspiring actors, Siju had a long and exhaustive struggling phase. Then came the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, leading to many 'webgrown' social media stars. Siju was one of them, with his fun content, despite its amateurishness, finding an audience. The online popularity finally helped him break open the doors of cinema.
After notable performances in Romancham, Guruvayoorambala Nadayil (2024), and Vaazha (2024), Siju is now set to take the next big step as a scriptwriter. Maranamass, headlined by Basil Joseph and co-produced by Tovino Thomas, has its story by Siju, who has also co-written the screenplay with director Sivaprasad. As the film gears up for release on April 10, Siju is excited for the audience's response. "When I used to do reels on social media, I was aware of what was expected of me because I created that audience. But with cinema, I'm catering to a wider audience of varying sensibilities. It's an entirely different challenge."
Siju, who loves entertaining his friends with random story ideas, recalls landing on the core idea of Maranamass during a bus ride. "This was after Romancham. I witnessed an incident in a bus, which stayed with me for long. When Sivaprasad, with whom I had worked in an ad film, asked me if I had any interesting story ideas, I told him about it. It was just the base storyline. Usually, when people hear my stories, they all seem to like it but rarely follow up or show further interest. Sivaprasad was the first who showed some eagerness. It inspired me to finish the story and later, we both penned the screenplay and dialogues together."
According to Siju, Maranamass is a "simple, fun film" intended mainly to entertain the audience. It primarily revolves around a bunch of characters, played by Basil, Rajesh Madhavan, Suresh Krishna, Anishma Anilkumar, and Siju himself. On what to expect from the film, the actor-writer says, "It's not a film where the characters have a lot of depth and detail because almost 80 per cent of it happens over a single night. But there will be a fun element throughout. The humour will be over-the-top, sarcastic, and also based on current affairs." Interestingly, Siju's character will have comparatively less space for humour, a challenge he says he enjoyed. "My character, a bus conductor, is an introvert. So there are only a few dialogues, different from what I've done so far. Such fresh attempts are important as it helps me understand my strengths and weaknesses as an actor."
While Maranamass grabbed eyeballs right from its announcement, Tovino's association as the co-producer has raised a lot of curiosity about the film. Explaining how the Mayaanadhi star agreed to be part of it, Siju says, "Sivaprasad was an associate director in Minnal Murali and ever since then, he shares a good rapport with Tovi chettan. When we pitched this story to him, he immediately agreed to produce it. This was even before the casting was finalised." Adding that Basil's entry to the project was also not planned, Siju says, "During Guruvayoorambala Nadayil's shoot, Sivaprasad casually met Basil ettan and narrated a rough idea, which he liked. Somewhere inside, we wanted to see if he'd be interested in being a part, but Basil ettan told us about his other commitments and plans to take a break from acting. Much later, during one of our discussions with Tovi chettan, Basil ettan heard the full script and was particularly impressed with Luke's character sketch."
The initial promos of Maranamass featuring Basil as Luke hinted at a spoof on all the 'Sigma males' and Gen Zs. But Siju clarifies that it was never their intention. "After the promos, people presumed we were trying to take a dig at Gen Zs. But Luke is just one among the new-gen youth around us... flashy, energetic, and wild. Basil ettan has played it wonderfully well."
Siju also fondly remembers working with veterans Suresh Krishna and Babu Antony, the latter one of his childhood heroes. "Suresh ettan's character was initially supposed to be played by a younger person. When he joined, we were a bit apprehensive as we're used to seeing him in villain and other serious roles. But Suresh ettan surprised us all. He is extremely cool, full of energy, and always there to help us out. Babu Antony chettan was also great to work with. He is someone we all grew up watching and I still remember the feeling of seeing him on the pooja day. The reality that he is going to play a character written by me struck me only then. It was a priceless feeling."
While he loves doing both, Siju rates writing a notch above acting because of this 'priceless feeling'. "I feel acting is much easier. Writing takes more time and effort, but also equally rewarding. It is exhilarating to see the characters one created coming alive on screen. I'm not saying Maranamass will be a groundbreaking film with multiple layers to ponder over. But the writing will be consistent throughout and our intentions, genuine."