Eesho, the upcoming Malayalam film starring actor Jayasurya in the title role, is a suspense thriller about what happens between a mystery man and an ATM security guard, says the producer of the film, Arun Narayan, in conversation with Silverscreen India.
The film is directed by Nadirshah from a script penned by Suneesh Varanaad.
Recently, Jayasurya announced on social media that he has completed dubbing for the film.
While actor Jaffer Idukki plays the guard, Jayasurya plays the titular Eesho. “Something interesting that happens between these two characters is the crux of the story. Jayasurya’s character has a lot of shades,” says the producer.
“Eesho in Malayalam means Jesus Christ, but here, it is just the name of Jayasurya’s character. The film has no connection to religion. That’s why we have specifically included ‘Not from the Bible’ as the tagline,” Arun adds.
The film is set against the backdrop of a hill station. However, it is not place-specific, says the producer. “Some of Jayasurya’s portions will take place in Dubai, and there are a few family sequences set in Trivandrum as well.”
“As per the screenplay, the story is happening around February, March 2020. And so, there are a few references to the Covid-19 pandemic by the characters — how it is happening in the world and could soon hit Kerala. However, it is not a major part of the storyline,” he adds.
The cast of Eesho includes actors Namitha Pramod, Indrans, and Baby Akshara in pivotal roles.
Speaking about how the film came about, Arun says, “Nadirshah and I have been very good friends for a very long time. I had earlier announced two projects with Jayasurya: one is a biopic on Metro Man E Sreedharan titled Ramasethu, and the other, Aposthalan, is based on a true incident in Syria about a kidnapped priest. Both films were planned to be shot in 2020 and 2021, but since they are big-budget projects, they have been postponed in the wake of the pandemic. In the meantime, we stumbled upon this script in the latter half of 2020 and Nadirshah liked it.”
Jayasurya was their first choice for the character of the mystery man, he adds.
Eesho went on floors on January 1 and the first schedule was completed in a month. The next schedule was kickstarted in March and filming was wrapped by April 10.
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The film was shot over 40 days altogether in Kochi, Munnar, and Trivandrum. The team also filmed for about 4-5 days in Dubai.
The makers have completed the film’s dubbing and editing. Currently, composer Jakes Bijoy is working on the background score, says the producer, adding that the first copy should be ready by August 15. The film also includes one song composed by Nadirshah himself.
Arun says the team has not finalised the release yet. “We shot the film for a theatrical release, but now, with theatres in Kerala still closed, we are planning to release it on an OTT platform. Nothing is finalised though. Marakkar is supposed to be the first Malayalam release in theatres, on August 12. If that happens, we will be releasing Eesho in theatres by the first week of September or so.”