Oru Thathwika Avalokanam, the upcoming Malayalam film starring Joju George in the lead role, is a political satire that highlights all the major events that happened in Kerala in the last five years, writer and director Akhil Marar tells Silverscreen India.
“The film’s post-production is 99% complete and we are planning for a theatrical release soon,” he adds.
Joju George released a new character poster on his Instagram handle on Thursday. Akhil reveals that the actor plays a “former contractor whose business has faced severe losses due to political interventions.”
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The film has around 20 characters, with actors such as Aju Varghese, Niranjan Raju, Major Ravi, Shammi Thilakan and Mamukkoya appearing in pivotal roles. “Aju Varghese essays the youth-wing leader of a political party, while Niranjan Raju plays a civil service aspirant who is unable to write the exam due to a political issue,” adds the director.
Oru Thathwika Avalokanam is set in a fictional village named Ramankota. “The story happens during the election season and touches upon all these major political events in a completely humorous manner. Taking references from true events, we have made a satire in a fictional setting.”
Noting that Malayalam cinema has not seen satires in many years, Akhil says he wanted to bring back this genre with Oru Thathwika Avalokanam.
The director adds that his aim with this film is to send a message and spread political awareness among people.
The title Oru Thathwika Avalokanam (which loosely translates to philosophical analysis) is inspired from a dialogue in the classic Malayalam film Sandesham (1991), which was written by Sreenivasan and directed by Sathyan Anthikkad. The phrase is used by actor Shankaradi’s character Kumara Pilla when commenting on the party’s failure in the polls.
“When we were looking for titles for the film, one of my friends shared this scene from Sandesham. I felt it was apt for our story as it also looks at political analysis in a comic way. Besides, it is a popular phrase among Malayalees in political discussions and is also used in memes. We thought using such a well-known phrase for the title would make it easy to communicate the crux of the film to the audience,” the filmmaker says.
The team originally planned to release Oru Thathwika Avalokanam during the election season in Kerala in 2020. However, production was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the film was eventually shot in January 2021 in Palakkad.
Akhil reveals that he will be collaborating with Joju George once again for his next directorial. He is also the creative director for an untitled film starring Suresh Gopi and Asha Sharath, and directed by Major Ravi.