Meet the ‘Manjummel Boys’
OChidambaram nce upon a time, a man fell into a pit and his friends helped him get out.
This seemingly simple storyline is the base around which recent Malayalam film Manjummel Boys revolves. But as with most of Malayalam cinema, which makes the ordinary
Deepak Parambol charming and the everyday epic, Manjummel Boys too weaves in enough thrill and tension into its script, leading to much excitement in cinema halls.
In Tamil Nadu, where the film has been a blockbuster, the crucial climax featuring Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi and the rest of the actors
Chandu Salimkumar
— peppered with a song from Kamal Haasan’s 1991 Tamil film Guna — met with rapturous applause, something largely reserved for the entry scenes of the superstar.
While the ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ melody made a comeback, Manjummel Boys made history, becoming the first Malayalam film to collect ₹200 crore at the global box office. The motley team behind this successful film discusses it all during a recent visit to The Hindu office in Chennai. Excerpts:
Arun Kurian
Director
The response Manjummel Boys got from Tamil Nadu has been overwhelming; we were really not ready for this!
The writing process was tough; I had it in my mind that the film had to start with the Tamil song from Kamal Haasan’s Guna. For the climax, as the situation was claustrophobic, the melody would help calm things down. The lines perfectly fell in place; I think that it was made for me 30 years ago.
When I first met the real-life Subash [the film is based on a real incident], I realised that the story is about an atheist becoming God. Because, someone who has almost seen death and come back is equal to God; from my first interaction with him, I decided to write my screenplay around this. I also decided to cast many directors as actors in the film — Soubin (Parava), Lal Jr. (Driving License) and Khalid Rahman (Unda), and that worked in my favour. They knew the value of time and understood what was going on.
In terms of business, the success of Manjummel Boys might eventually pave the way for bigger films in Malayalam cinema.
However, as writers for Malayalam films, we usually do not dare write a big spectacle, because we know we will not get that kind of budget. So, we weave in more drama in the dialogues and focus on domestic interactions, and things that happen in a confined space. When we write, we keep thinking about the budget. That limitation, I believe, is our superpower.
Currently, even as we are thrilled about the love the film is receiving everywhere, we are releasing its Telugu and Hindi dubbed versions on April 6. Personally, I do not want it to release on any OTT platform soon!
As writers of Malayalam cinema, we keep thinking of the budget when we pen our scenes. That’s why we weave in more drama. This limitation is our superpower