It’s the first day of shooting of director Sidharth Bharathan’s Chandrettan Evideya , which has Dileep in the lead. The location is an old naalukettu near Chottanikkara and cinematographer Shyju Khaled is canning a scene showing Dileep playing with his ‘young son’ in a bedroom. After a few moments, the kid jumps from the bed and goes out of the frame.
“The film scripted by Santhosh Echikkanam is a humorous take on the life of Chandramohan (Dileep), an assistant section officer at the Complaints Cell of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. His wife Sushama (Anusree) is a BSNL employee in Thrissur. Chandramohan happily lives like a bachelor in the company of his friends in Thiruvananthapuram, where he is posted. The story takes an unexpected turn when a woman approaches him with a complaint,” says Sidharth, the actor-turned-filmmaker who had helmed the remake of Nidra . There is another heroine in the film but the casting has not been done yet.
The next scene has the husband and wife talking about a trip that they have been planning for sometime now. “Sushama is pretty possessive about her husband and nags him constantly,” says the director, as he watches the proceedings on a monitor. He says he wants to attempt a different genre after the tragic Nidra.
Dileep seems gung ho about his role. “Chandramohan is also a freelance writer specialising in performing arts. He is pretty comfortable staying alone in Thiruvananthapuram and does not make an effort to bring his family there,” says Dileep.
Anusree chips in about her character. “She is very conventional and her whole world revolves around her husband and son. I think viewers mostly identify me with such an image, after my debut film Diamond Necklace . I am looking forward to more challenging roles that can prove my versatility.”
Chandrettan Evideya is being produced by Sameer Thahir, Shyju Khaled and Aashiq Usman under the banner of Handmade Films. Prashanth Pillai scores the music. Still photographer is Vishnu Thandassery.