Wednesday Aug 06 2008, Trivendrum

Madhupal: Confident about ‘Thalappavu’

Madhupal, who is known mostly as an actor, has always wanted to be a director.He reportedly rejected noted director Hariharan’s offer to don the lead role in ‘Sargam’ just because he wanted to concentrate on direction (It was Vineeth who later played the lead in the hit musical movie).Anyhow Madhupal later made his acting debut with ‘Kashmeeram’ and went on to do all kinds of supporting characters in films and serials.And in literary and film circles in Thiruvananthapuram, he has always been known as a sensible guy who wrote good short stories and dreamed of directing a movie.And now, his dream has come true.

Madhupal has almost finished his debut directorial venture, ‘Thalappavu’, which is likely to be released next month, as an Onam release.The film, starring Prithviraj, Lal, Atul Kulkarni, Jagathy Sreekumar, Rohini, Sudheer Karamana etc, is reportedly a very sensitive kind of film, that spans a long period of time, starting from the 1970’s and extending up to the present.Here’s Madhupal opening up in an interview given to filmysouth.com.

* How do you feel, since at last our dream of directing a movie has come true?- I am happy that I am directing the kind of movie that I would like to direct.‘Thalappavu’ is a sensible kind of movie and therefore I am happy, to the core.

* So, what’s ‘Thalappavu’ all about?- ‘Thalappavu’ speaks about many things.But basically it is all about friendship.As we all know there are diverse kinds of friendships.‘Thalappavu’ speaks about the bond of friendship shared between a cop and a youth who is termed a rebel and a criminal by the government.

* Yes, the rebel.So, there is truth in the reports that the film is based on the life and times of Varghese, the naxalite.-To some extent, yes.The young rebel, played by Prithviraj can be seen as resembling Varghese in many ways.In fast the character may be representing any of those youthful rebels who have rebelled against the system in some way or the other.

* So, what’s it all about?-As I said earlier, ‘Thalappavu’ is about the friendship shared between a cop and a rebellious kind of youth, who is branded a ‘criminal’.The cop, whose name is Raveendran Pillai (played by Lal), meets young Joseph (played by Prithviraj), and develops a liking for the young guy.A strong bond of friendship develops between them.But later the very same Raveendran Pillai is forced to shoot and kill Joseph, who is by then branded a ‘criminal’.

*So, all this takes part in the 1970’s.Isn’t it?-Yes.And this has been filmed with the 1970’s as the backdrop since that was the time when there was some kind of unrest here and that was the time when naxalism too took roots in Kerala.

* And from the 1970’s the film moves to the present.Is it?-Exactly.We move from 1970’s to the present and basically from the perspective of Raveendran Pillai, the retired policeman, we take a look at things of social and political relevance.
The film speaks of many issues intimately related to our lives.

* By the way, is ‘Thalappavu’ an arty kind of movie? Or is it one that comes within the parameters of mainstream commercial cinema?- A difficult question to answer.‘Thalappavu’ is in all respects a work of art and hence you may call it ‘arty’.At the same time there are all those elements that are seen in mainstream commercial films- songs, fight et al.But not one of the songs or the fights has been included to give it a commercial touch.The songs are integral to the plot and jell perfectly with the situations.Songs, fights etc are part of life and since the film is about life, songs and fights are integral to the film.

* Tell us about the support you received from your team.- All the members of the ‘Thalappavu’ team have been extremely supportive and cooperative.Cinematographer Alagappan, scenarist Babu Janardhanan, actors Lal and Prithviraj and all others have put their heart and soul into the making of the movie.
It team work at its best.

* What are your expectations about the box office outcome of ‘Thalappavu’?- I expect nothing but the best.The film, as I said earlier, has things intimately related to our lives.And it has all the elements of a family drama.And there are songs, fights etc plus of course very popular artists in the cast.
I am very much optimistic about the box office outcome.

* Well then.All the best!-Thanks.