To make Dileep act in a subtle manner was a task

After directing a romantic thriller, Sidharth Bharathan, the son of the late director Bharathan and senior artiste KPAC Lalitha, has come up with a family entertainer as his second directorial venture. The movie has been lapped up by the audience, and the young filmmaker is being appreciated for his right choice of actors and subject. Sidharth talks about working with Dileep, his idea of a good film, comparisons with his father and more.Excerpts:
People say that your second film, Chandrettan Evideya, has helped Dileep to reinvent the actor in him. What made you cast Dileep and how was it working with the Janapriyanayakan? It was a wonderful experience working with Dileepettan. We had a lot of arguments, but all of them were worth it. He has done a lot of films before and to make him act in a subtle manner was a task. This character was completely different from what he has done so far, but Dileepettan was open to experiment. I think the most time-consuming part of the film was to convince him to act in a particular way. However, right from the beginning I knew that only he could do justice to the role, which has the right mix of humour and seriousness.
Chandrettan Evideya is an adaptation of a short story by Santhosh Echikkanam, who himself has written the screenplay and the dialogues of the film. What made you pick his short story for your film? There will always be an interesting thread in a film and this story penned by Santhosh had it. I felt it is a good story for a film and so picked it up. As it is a short story, we did not want to stretch it further and the time duration of the film was restricted to 125 minutes. We stuck to what we want to say and made it into a film.
In Nidra and Chandrettan Evideya, you roped in your mother KPAC Lalitha. Did you take her suggestions while shooting? She is a wonderful artiste. I consider myself lucky to work with an artiste of her calibre. I did take her as well as others’ suggestions. It was a teamwork and that is the reason why I mentioned Sidharth Bharathan and team in the credits. People should work whole-heartedly as a team; it is a film and not a construction site where you’re forced to do something.
What is your idea of a good film? A good film should engage me. Padayappa is one of my favourite films. Whatever work you do, if it can engage people, then it is a success. When a good film hits the screens, people appreciate it, but fail to turn up in numbers. I knew that I need to take up a film that is entertaining so that people would watch it. Having said that, one should not go by the comments of the audience alone as they can be misleading.
It is after a gap of two years that you came up with your second project. What took you so long? I was analyzing the trends in the industry. I wanted to do an independent film and the industry showed opposite trends. So it took me this long for my second directorial venture.
What are you more passionate about — acting or direction? My interest lies in cinema. I am a trained editor, can write scripts, act and also direct films. So I would say I want to be a part of cinema in various capacities.
How do you look at comparisons drawn between you and your father? Does it inspire you to better your craft? For everyone, their first guru will be either Bharathan or Padmarajan. When it comes to comparisons, I don’t care much about it.
What next? On the acting front, I have Siju S Bawa’s untitled project. I am choosy when it comes to acting; I only look at the characters offered to me. I am currently searching for good subjects for my next directorial venture.