The villagers of Thekkethara are a close knit community. Sukhu (Vijayakumar), Seetha (Praveena) and their son Appu (Master Kailas) are a family who live in the village. A good student, Appu is held in high esteem amongst his teachers. Disaster strikes the family when word comes out that Sukhu, who is employed in Mumbai, is dead. The grama panchayath member (Jagadish) tries to find employment for Seetha but his attempts are met with stiff resistance from the local vaidyar (Nandulal), who has a bone to pick with Seetha.
Health officials come to the village and Seetha and Appu discover that Sukhu died from HIV/AIDS. The villagers soon hear of this and start segregating the family.
Mohanakrishnan Achamthodi (Tini Tom), a newly appointed professor tries to reform the village in its views. Is he successful in creating awareness and whether the villagers accept Seetha and Appu back into their fold forms the rest of Colour Balloon , a movie by debut director Subaash Thiruvilwamala.
“The seed for the story came from a piece of news I read in the newspaper. An acquaintance of mine who works with the Kerala AIDS Control Society, introduced me to a family suffering from HIV/AIDS. Colour Balloon is based on their tale,” says Subaash, who has written the story. The screen play is by Subaash, Jayaraj Madayi and Hari Madayi.
An avid cinema buff, entering the film industry and making a mark of his own has always been Subaash’s dream. Subaash who hails from Thiruvilwamala, says assisting filmmaker P.N. Menon was a stepping stone to achieving his dream. He has made short films such as Manam and Atheetham .
“It is difficult to find a foothold in the industry if you do not have a god father. That is why it took me 13 years, the exact number of years I have been in the industry, to bring Colour Balloon out.” The movie was shot in and around Thiruvilwamala.
Produced by V.R. Das, under the banner of Cyber Vision, Subaash says the movie is a “family must watch”. The movie, which reached theatres yesterday, also stars Indrans, Vinod Kovoor and Kochupreman. MLA T.N. Prathapan plays the education minister in the film.
