Iqbal Kuttippuram is a rather busy practitioner of homeopathy in Dubai. He has so far treated more than 60,000 patients. He has also had considerable success in movies, as a scriptwriter.
Vikramadithyan , directed by Lal Jose, is his third hit in a row, after Diamond Necklace and Oru Indian Pranayakatha . “ Vikramadithyan was something Lal Jose and I had planned some four years ago, when Dulquer Salman and Unni Mukundan were not in the scene, but they have proved the right choices,” Iqbal told The Hindu . “It is nice to see that my films are being received well by the viewers, but I am not in a hurry to write my next script.”
He never has been. He has written only eight scripts in 11 years.
“I never wanted to be a full-time scriptwriter; medicine would always remain my first love,” Iqbal said.
“The gratification you get after curing a person is something I do not want to trade for anything. If I was forced to have only one career, I would rather continue to be a doctor; films would never be a priority for me.”
But, cinema was always on his mind. “I had written my first while I was doing my BHMS course in Kochi,” he said. “My friend showed that to director Kamal, who probably saw some promise in me and made me part of his discussions on scripts while he planned his films.”
During one of those discussions, he told Kamal the story of Niram . “I wrote only the story; the screenplay was by Shathrughnan,” he says. “My first screenplay was Gramophone , which was also directed by Kamal. The film didn’t do well at the box office, as people perhaps didn’t expect such a film from Dileep after Meesha Madhavan .”
But, with films like 4 the People and Arabikkatha , he tasted success. Arabikkatha remains probably his best work. It is a true portrayal of the struggles of Malayalis in the Gulf countries. “Director Lal Jose came only later; I had already written the script with Srinivasan in mind and had several discussions with him,” he said. “ Dimaond Necklace is also pretty close to my heart. Fahad Fazil I thought was brilliant in the film; and he surprised me even more in Oru Indian Pranayakatha . He is a remarkable actor.”
