THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finally, N Abdul Rasheed got an invite to be part of the special screening of Oridathoru Phayalvaan at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) on Tuesday. The invitation from the Kerala State Chalachithra Academy comes a day after the TNIE featured Rasheed who portrayed the pivotal phayalvaan role in the classic movie in a report.
Rasheed, who has been staying at Kamaleswaram in the state capital, was tracked down by TNIE after extensive search. Rasheed was overwhelmed to receive the invitation from festival director and academy chairman Ranjith himself on Saturday. “Chairman of the Chalachithra Academy contacted me and I have agreed to attend the special screening on Tuesday,” Rasheed told TNIE.
“I am happy that the movie is being screened now, after four decades. It was my debut movie and ‘phayalvaan’ is the most favourite of all the characters I portrayed in my film career,” he said. Every year, IFFK features one classic movie which made a mark in the Malayalam film history.
READ HERE | No fest invite, but ‘phayalvaan’ OK with it
Padmarajan’s wife to attend spl screening
“The movie was handpicked by chairman Ranjith, and there will be a speech on the film by an eminent personality. Novelist Kalpetta Narayanan has been invited, but it’s not confirmed yet,” said Ajoy Chandran, secretary of the Chalachithra Academy.
Padmarajan’s wife Radha Lakshmi will also attend the special screening. “My mother will be attending the screening. ‘Oridathoru Phayalvaan’ is my personal favourite. There is a kind of fantasy and exotic elements in the movie.
I was just six or seven years old when the movie was shot and it’s part of my childhood memory. Shooting location visits were very rare but I got the opportunity to be on the sets of this film five or six times. It was an experimental movie during that time and except for Nedumudi Venu, almost all other actor were new faces,” Padmarajan’s son P Anandapadmanabhan told TNIE.