S Suresh Babu is set to make his directorial debut after working as a successful scriptwriter for over two decades. His recent work includes Navya Nair’s comeback film Oruthee in 2022. The veteran announced two films, Manoharanum Janakiyum and Arribada, that he will produce through his new company. “I have always wanted to direct films and also have some big projects planned. I am basically a painter by education, so I see the film as a visual medium and feel dialogues need to be used only sparsely to fill in the story. Of course, as a writer, I have felt it my responsibility to cater to the requirements of other directors, but as a director myself, I feel I’ll be able to better fulfill the vision I have of a film,” he says.
Manoharanum Janakiyum is a thriller centered on a missing man case and centered on a drama troupe. There will be new faces on the screen as well as among the technicians. The film feels reminiscent of KG George’s cult classic Yavanika, with the story unfolding over four days and the climax occurring just before the play opens on stage at the site of a temple festival. “It is Yavanika-like, but it also considers the condition of a troupe that works on an income of about `30,000 per show. The journey they undertake, in their stuffy bus in Kochi traffic amidst luxury cars, to their destination is an important part of the film. So apart from the thriller aspect, the film also talks about contemporary socio-political situations,” says the writer-director.
The other film’s title, Arribada, refers to the phenomenon in which thousands of Olive ridley turtles return to the shore of their birth to lay eggs.
