00:00how far will you go for your friend and how deep will you go and that testing the
00:04strength of your friendship. It's a test of friendship.
00:09Good afternoon, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News. I'm here with Malayalam cinema's
00:14man of the moment Chidambaram, director of Manumal Boys. It's one of the movies that's
00:19doing exceedingly well in the UAE cinemas. It's like a bromance, it's not a bromance,
00:23it's like you know a tale of friends, male friends who go on a trip and then it morphs
00:28into a survival thriller. It's a big hit. Are you happy with the reaction firstly?
00:33Of course I'm happy and I'm very grateful. It's very unbelievable the growth of the
00:39movie and the reception and I'm very thankful for that.
00:41None of these kids are super rich, they're not wealthy, they're not that privileged or
00:46entitled. They're just normal, right? Regular folks. Is that you think is the appeal behind
00:52this film? Could be or could not be because
00:55the demography of the world is like the middle class and the working class people is the
00:58highest. So I think it's a relatable story universally because working class people is
01:02the backbone of any society and I think that makes it a bit relatable I think.
01:07Also one of the recurring themes of this thing is friendship. A guy who goes all out to save
01:13his mate and the other friends also pitching in. So do you think friendship is like the
01:18core theme behind? I mean that kind of talks to you as a filmmaker.
01:22Yes, friendship is the core theme of this film because if their friendship doesn't have
01:27that strength, they would have left him there and it's a survival thrill. So how far will
01:34you go for your friend and how deep will you go and that testing the strength of your
01:39friendship. It's a test of friendship. How did you get interested in this Kamal
01:43Hassan thing which I thought was a very interesting touch?
01:46This K was made famous by Kamal Hassan's Guna movie which came in the 90s. So they
01:51shot an iconic song in there. So everyone who goes to Guna caves wants to do that line
02:02which means for humans to understand it's not human love, it's holier than that.
02:07So everyone is a Kamal fan out there. So everyone who goes to Guna caves wants to scream out this
02:15line. So these guys also, because Kamal Hassan went there, it's very famous, they're also like
02:22Kamal sir. So they go into the cave and they want to shout the lines of the song and then
02:29they get trapped. So I thought when I'm making the movie, Kamal sir and the song and the movie
02:34Guna is an integral part of this movie. So more than homage, it's like part of the script. So I
02:41can't finish this movie without Kamal sir or that song. What did he think of it? Kamal sir
02:48has been very supportive. Like we sent him the trailer before the release. So he promised us
02:52that he will watch the movie. We only expected that at least he will watch the movie. But soon
02:57after watching the movie, he sent us an invite. So we went to his office and like all the boys.
03:03So we had an interaction. Yes, I saw the interaction. Then after that he put up a screening
03:07by himself, like for his family and friends. And we were invited for that screen. We were
03:11guests for that screening. So Kamal sir has been very supportive because he knows films. More than
03:16an actor, he's a filmmaker. So he's a master and he's a brilliant director and writer. So he knows
03:21and he lives for films and that's why some random boys from Cochin is still supporting him. And I'm
03:29very eternally grateful for him and Santana Bharathi, director of Guna. And it was Tamil people
03:34who were very supportive and very grateful for the reception. Getting the stamp of approval from
03:39Kamal Haasan kind of elevates this movie, do you think? Any movie should be a visual medium. So
03:46the language shouldn't be a barrier, I think. And the reception in Tamil Nadu is like great. So
03:51because we used the Rayalaya Raja song, there is this Kamal connection and the story happens in
03:56Tamil Nadu. And most of the dialogues are in Tamil. 60% of the dialogues are in Tamil only. So Tamil
04:00people were like, I don't know what to say here. So they liked the movie and I don't know, it was
04:04more relatable to them and a lot of cultural references. And they all love Kamal Haasan.
04:09What was the toughest part about filming this? We went to Guna. Guna is a very dangerous place
04:14to shoot. Very perilous place because you know the story says that more than 50 people have
04:20gone and died there. Devil's Kitchen. Only 13 is in records. It's a very hard place to shoot,
04:27very dangerous. So I can't like take 200 people crew, like 4 hours, 60, 70 days here. And so
04:32it's very dangerous. So we had to build, we decided to build the cave. We went in, took the
04:36measurements and built the cave in Kuchin. And we air conditioned it to Kodai temperatures. So
04:42building the cave and making it convincible was the hardest part. And thanks to my production
04:47designer Ajay, he did a wonderful job. Even if I know that I'm shooting in a set,
04:54like I didn't feel it. So it was very, so the set, making the set and making it
04:59convincing was the hardest part. What about the casting, which I thought was interesting.
05:02Why did you choose this particular set of boys? Because they are all friends.
05:06Actual friends. They get along quite well. The chemistry is like, so we are making a
05:11story about real friends. So on screen also that chemistry and this camera, yeah, it should come,
05:18it should affect. So we are all friends and we go back a long way. Plus they are actors.
05:23So yeah, and casting a star, a superstar in this group will imbalance it, you know, like,
05:30and so everyone is important. Every boy is important for the story and
05:35as the name says, Manjumal boys. So I don't want, so the balance should be fine and everyone has
05:39an equal portion. What are the recurring themes you would say is explored in this movie?
05:44I don't know. Love only. Love is the theme. Love is, you know, the universal love,
05:47that is the theme. I think that is also there in my first movie, Jahaneman. So it's not like,
05:51okay, I'm going to write about universal. No, it comes. It's like that. So I heard the story
05:57from them. So it was like every trained people, like fire force, police, they refuse to go in.
06:03So this guy, even though he knows it's like, it might be like deadly, but he goes in. So yeah,
06:10so that is love and commitment, I think. At any point, did you think Saubhan's
06:13physicality did not really, that was the only I thought. Personally, I was like,
06:18how did this guy who doesn't seem to be in the fittest form get into,
06:22do something so dangerous and survive it? I wanted my hero to look like a normal person
06:27and a normal person can pull this off. Not with a guy with six packs or anything. Like every guy
06:31is a hero. Every man is a hero. So I want to like put that perspective. Should be a very normal
06:36person. Did you expect it to be such a phenomenal hit? Is that why you think Malayalam cinema is so
06:42good? We always worked under limitations. So our budgets were not like very high as Tamil
06:48compared to Telugu. So even if you're writing the script, you won't write a fight with a thousand
06:55people or a dance with six people. You can't write this. So we always went back to content.
07:00So the limitations shaped us to make movies like this. That's what I think.
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