Wanted to make a film for superhero fans across the world Minnal Murali star Tovino Thomas
Mumbai Dec 23 PTI Malayalam star Tovino Thomas says his upcoming film Minnal Murali is the story of an ordinary man from Keralas Karakulam who one day gets special powers but does not fly off from the skyscrapers like some of his Hollywood counterpartsThomas best known for 7th Day Ennu Ninte Moideen Uyare and Mayanadhi said the Basil Joseph directorial is an origin story of a local superhero who doesnt start fighting the bad guy from the very next dayWe wanted to make a film that works with superhero fans across the world as well as for common audiences who are not used to this genre of movies I imagined my parents who are not used to Spider-Man watching and liking the film Thomas told PTI in an interviewWe conceived it as an ordinary man getting superpowers and how he would not save the world from the next day he would experiment with his powers Like how we have shown him smashing the wall catching the fan etc The superhero part is the X-factor in the film he addedMinnal Murali features Thomas as Jaison a tailor who gains special powers after being struck by lightningThe 32-year-old actor hopes the film is a worthy addition to the ever-growing list of well-made Malayalam movies that have universal appealMalayalam cinema has always got the reputation of making good content movies and emotional dramas are our strong point With our film we have concentrated on our strong points emotional drama and make it look sensibleWe have not copied the Hollywood superheroes films as the film is happening in Karakulam a locality in Thiruvananthapuram Kerala and we dont have skyscrapers He wears dhoti chappals etc thats why we have kept it grounded he addedDirector Joseph said it was writer Arun Anirudhan who first came up with the idea of making a film about an ordinary man who gets struck by lightningThe team then came together to weave a story around the premise and the end result was Minnal Murali The final script was penned by Anirudhan and Justin MathewLightning is the most relatable source of energy found anywhere in the world and anyone can get struck by lightning We too have shown an ordinary man in this situation and what happens after that is the story the filmmaker who made his debut in 2015 with Kunjiramayanam saidJoseph said the objective was to make Minnal Murali authentic and relatable to reach out to a wider audienceThe director who earlier collaborated with the actor for the 2017 hit sports comedy Godha revealed Thomas was his first and only choice to play Jaison aka Minnal means lightning in Malayalam MuraliTovino has a superhero stature and as an actor he is versatile My comedies are a little loud so I need actors who can play it a little loud but are still in control He can play the part without going too loud he addedFor the action sequences Thomas learnt martial arts and underwent a physical transformation from being a chubby Jaison to a leaner superhero in a red-and-blue costume and a red facemaskThe director said the superhero genre principally hails from Hollywood and the team has made an attempt to pay tributes to it through their film This is only Josephs third feature filmPeople over there have grown up reading comics When Spider-Man comes everyone is excited as they have been reading about it since childhoodThis genre came from America and we have intentionally mentioned American superheroes In our film it is happening in a way that the lead character is getting educated on superheroes culture he addedWorking on this film was an opportunity that came with both pressure and responsibility said JosephThe idea was not to just make Thomas do superheroic things on screen and spend the entire budget on VFX visual effects We had to make sure it is a commercial film pleasing every age group We had to see the business aspect tooWe have made a universal film We didnt want to make a masala movie with all the action gimmicks or item dance We wanted to have emotions drama humour action and that the characters should be empathetic the director saidProduced by Sophia Paul through the Weekend Blockbusters banner Minnal Murali also stars Guru Somasundaram and Aju VargheseThe film will be released on Netflix in Malayalam as well as dubbed versions in Tamil Telugu Kannada Hindi and English on Friday PTI KKP RB RDS RDS
Mumbai Dec 23 PTI Malayalam star Tovino Thomas says his upcoming film Minnal Murali is the story of an ordinary man from Keralas Karakulam who one day gets special powers but does not fly off from the skyscrapers like some of his Hollywood counterpartsThomas best known for 7th Day Ennu Ninte Moideen Uyare and Mayanadhi said the Basil Joseph directorial is an origin story of a local superhero who doesnt start fighting the bad guy from the very next dayWe wanted to make a film that works with superhero fans across the world as well as for common audiences who are not used to this genre of movies I imagined my parents who are not used to Spider-Man watching and liking the film Thomas told PTI in an interviewWe conceived it as an ordinary man getting superpowers and how he would not save the world from the next day he would experiment with his powers Like how we have shown him smashing the wall catching the fan etc The superhero part is the X-factor in the film he addedMinnal Murali features Thomas as Jaison a tailor who gains special powers after being struck by lightningThe 32-year-old actor hopes the film is a worthy addition to the ever-growing list of well-made Malayalam movies that have universal appealMalayalam cinema has always got the reputation of making good content movies and emotional dramas are our strong point With our film we have concentrated on our strong points emotional drama and make it look sensibleWe have not copied the Hollywood superheroes films as the film is happening in Karakulam a locality in Thiruvananthapuram Kerala and we dont have skyscrapers He wears dhoti chappals etc thats why we have kept it grounded he addedDirector Joseph said it was writer Arun Anirudhan who first came up with the idea of making a film about an ordinary man who gets struck by lightningThe team then came together to weave a story around the premise and the end result was Minnal Murali The final script was penned by Anirudhan and Justin MathewLightning is the most relatable source of energy found anywhere in the world and anyone can get struck by lightning We too have shown an ordinary man in this situation and what happens after that is the story the filmmaker who made his debut in 2015 with Kunjiramayanam saidJoseph said the objective was to make Minnal Murali authentic and relatable to reach out to a wider audienceThe director who earlier collaborated with the actor for the 2017 hit sports comedy Godha revealed Thomas was his first and only choice to play Jaison aka Minnal means lightning in Malayalam MuraliTovino has a superhero stature and as an actor he is versatile My comedies are a little loud so I need actors who can play it a little loud but are still in control He can play the part without going too loud he addedFor the action sequences Thomas learnt martial arts and underwent a physical transformation from being a chubby Jaison to a leaner superhero in a red-and-blue costume and a red facemaskThe director said the superhero genre principally hails from Hollywood and the team has made an attempt to pay tributes to it through their film This is only Josephs third feature filmPeople over there have grown up reading comics When Spider-Man comes everyone is excited as they have been reading about it since childhoodThis genre came from America and we have intentionally mentioned American superheroes In our film it is happening in a way that the lead character is getting educated on superheroes culture he addedWorking on this film was an opportunity that came with both pressure and responsibility said JosephThe idea was not to just make Thomas do superheroic things on screen and spend the entire budget on VFX visual effects We had to make sure it is a commercial film pleasing every age group We had to see the business aspect tooWe have made a universal film We didnt want to make a masala movie with all the action gimmicks or item dance We wanted to have emotions drama humour action and that the characters should be empathetic the director saidProduced by Sophia Paul through the Weekend Blockbusters banner Minnal Murali also stars Guru Somasundaram and Aju VargheseThe film will be released on Netflix in Malayalam as well as dubbed versions in Tamil Telugu Kannada Hindi and English on Friday PTI KKP RB RDS RDS
Watch the Malayalam movie My Name is Azhakan online on ZEE5.
