Malayalam director Vijay Menon: ‘Njaan Ippo Entha Cheyya’ is about city angst

Deepa Thomas and Abhimanyu Gautham in Njaan Ippo Entha Cheyya
| Picture Credit score: Particular Association

The pandemic and the following lockdown have impressed filmmakers the world over. Becoming a member of the record of films is Njaan Ippo Entha Cheyya (What Will I do Now?), a Malayalam movie directed by debutant Vijay Menon that releases on Saina Play on July 28.

The movie, “a darkish comedy”, is about two children, Dhivya and Arjun, caught at dwelling in the course of the lockdown. “The narrative is about city angst and the way Gen Z reacts to completely different challenges. These two are thrown into sure conditions, with one factor resulting in the opposite. Finally, a homicide occurs and so they need to take care of it. The film explores how the younger era deal with stress and anxiousness,” says Vijay.

Chennai-based Vijay is the son of late director, producer and author, P Venu, whose filmography contains notable Malayalam films comparable to Udyogastha (1967), Viruthan Shanku (1968), CID Nazir (1971), and Prethangalude Thazhvara (1973), amongst others. “I grew up watching my father’s movies and hoped to make films sooner or later. I used to be within the promoting trade for a few years and in 2013 I made a decision to put in writing and make movies as effectively,” says Vijay, who additionally runs an commercial company in Chennai.

He provides that it was the lockdown that set issues rolling. In 2020, he made a brief film-cum-musical, Intezaar After that, he began engaged on the script of Njaan Ippo…, initially deliberate as a brief movie. “As soon as the script went via varied adjustments, I made a decision to make it right into a function. Nonetheless, it was tough to bankroll the undertaking as is the case with any debut director. Finally, I managed to get on board a gaggle of individuals. There are 10 producers related to it,” he says. The movie, scripted by Smriti Amarendran, has been shot in Chennai over a interval of two weeks.

Deepa Thomas, acquainted to the viewers via her roles within the productions of Karikku, widespread Malayalam digital platform, and in films comparable to Mohan Kumar Followers, House and Sulaikha Manzil, performs Dhivya. New face Abhimanyu Gautham performs Arjun; Abhimanyu is the grandson of VV Babu, who produced the cult Malayalam film, Thakara, directed by Bharathan and written by P Padmarajan.

At a time when a number of administrators desire to launch their movies in theatres, Vijay mentions that he had no such plan. “It’s an indie movie and I knew that it may well’t carry individuals to theatres. On the similar time, it was not straightforward to pitch it to OTT platforms as a result of the film isn’t headlined by massive stars,” he says.

Vijay provides that he was apprehensive if he would be capable to launch it in any respect. “I keep in mind what my father used to say. That you’re known as a filmmaker provided that the movie comes on display screen and never when it stays within the can.”