Blessy talks about his latest film ‘Calcutta News’ starring Dileep and Meera Jasmine. N. Ganesh
Scenarist and director: Blessy says music will be a highlight of ‘Calcutta News.’
Living up to the high expectations after a debut movie like ‘Kazhcha’ is quite tough. ‘Kazhcha’ and ‘Thanmathra’ won critical acclaim and commercial success. Though ‘Palunku’ drew a mixed response, it had Blessy’s stamp. The three movies were sketches of a fast-changing society from a family’s perspective. But Blessy had to face the wrath of many who clubbed the three together to draw comparisons and made it
a subject of criticism.
This must have prompted the director to look for something fresh. His next venture ‘Calcutta News,’ with Kolkata as its background, looks promising. The recording of the six songs in the film was held at Kodandapani Studio in Chennai. “‘Calcutta News’ is the happenings in one year in the life of a channel producer,” said the director in a chat in Chennai.
Dileep plays the lead role. Unlike his earlier movies, where he introduced three talented actors to Malayalam cinema – Padmapriya, Meera Vasudev and Lakshmi Sharma – Blessey has cast proven performer Meera Jasmine as heroine.
Meera plays a school dropout who is forced into the flesh trade and sent to West Bengal at a young age. The cast includes Innocent, Indrajith, Bindu Panicker and a few actors from West Bengal among others.
S. Kumar will be the cinematographer. Deb Jyoti Mishra, protégé of the legendary Salil Chowdhury, will replace Mohan Sithara, who had composed the music for Blessy’s first three movies.
Highlight of the film
“A highlight will be the music handled by Mishra, who has composed six songs, which include a Bengali song, as well as the background music. Tagore’s ‘Gitanjali’ and poems of P. Bhaskaran have also been included. Vayalar Sarathchandra Varma is the lyricist," said Blessy.
The movie will be shot almost entirely in Kolkata, with only five scenes to be filmed in Kerala.
“I still believe ‘Palunku’ was complete in itself. It was an attack against the new meaning of ‘being practical’ and how we forget even our children in our frantic run to grab every thing under the sun. Writing ‘Palunku’ was a smooth job for me, unlike my earlier works, where the subject demanded extra effort.
“But ‘Palunku’ was compared to my earlier films. I think ‘Calcutta News’ should have happened before Palunku, as I had initially planned,” he said.
Dwelling upon his latest film, he said: “This will be a different approach. Since I am writing the screenplay once again, it allows me a lot of freedom, of course within my limitations. Unlike my earlier efforts, where I looked through my screenplay, ‘Calcutta News’ will be seen through the camera.”
The shooting of ‘Calcutta News,’ produced by Thampi Antony under the banner of Kayal Films, will begin in Kolkata in the first week of June.
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