Upacharapoorvam Gunda Jayan, the upcoming Malayalam film starring Shaiju Kurup and Siju Wilson, will be a comedy family entertainer, director Arun Vaiga tells Silverscreen India.
The film, produced by Dulquer Salmaan under his home banner Wayfarer Films, in association with Sebab Anicadu, is slated for release on January 28.
In conversation with Silverscreen India, director Arun says, “Upacharapoorvam Gunda Jayan follows the happenings at a marriage house over one day. This is Shaiju Kurup’s 100th film and he plays the role of a former gunda who is now a changed, family man. Siju plays the role of the bride’s friend. Audiences of all age groups can enjoy this film.”
The film also features actors Shabareesh, Johny Antony, Sudhir Karamana, Hareesh Kanaran, and Jaffer Idukki, among several others. The director reveals that they also roped in five new female actors for the film, who were all selected through auditions.
Regarding the genesis of the project, Arun says, “Before entering the film industry, I worked as a wedding videographer and photographer for almost 15 years. So I know all about what weddings entail. After completing my first film, Chembarathipoo, in 2018, I wanted to make a humorous film. With a wedding as a base, I developed a one-liner and shared it with my writer Rajesh Varma.”
It took the two of them around a year to complete the script. As part of the pre-production process, Arun and his team attended several weddings in parts of Cherthala, to gain an in-depth understanding of the entire process. “We collected experiences of catering groups, light and sound departments, decors and much more. While watching the film, the audience will feel like they are at a wedding house.”
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After completing the script, Arun felt it could be made into a big-budget film. He, therefore, approached Sebab and Dulquer, who came on board as producers.
Upacharapoorvam Gunda Jayan, which features three songs composed by music director Bijibal, went on floors in October in Cherthala and the filming was wrapped up in 30 days.
“Vishnu Govind and Sreesankar, who worked in films like Premam and Ayyappanum Koshyium, have done our film’s sound design. We have taken a lot of effort to create the wedding ambience and vibe with the sound. It took us almost 3 to 4 months to finish the post-production process,” says Arun, adding that sound design is the soul of the film.