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‘Chocolate’ has a storyline and a theme and there has been no attempt to introduce slapstick scenes for comic relief.

Calling the shots: Shafi says he tries to make his films complete entertainers.

Shafi has every reason to feel excited. His latest offering ‘Chocolate’ is turning out to be a hit. Pitted against some of the high profile releases this Ramzan, the entertaining campus saga has set the cash registers ringing in a big way. His oeuvre includes ‘One Man Show,’ ‘Kalyana Raman,’ ‘Pulival Kalyanam,’ ‘Thommanum Makkalum,’ ‘Mayavi,’ ‘Chocolate’ and ‘Majaa’ in Tamil. Shafi says that he has tried to move away from his usual track of humour in ‘Chocolate,’ which has been scripted by the debutant scenarist-duo Sachi and Sethu.

The campus-based film hinges on the travails and adventures of the only male student in a women’s college. According to Shafi, ‘Chocolate’ was a challenge as it was scripted by a new scenarist-duo, unlike his earlier films which were scripted by successful writers. But the director seems to have turned the odds in his favour and come up with a hit.

Excerpts from an interview with Shafi.

My efforts have always been to make wholesome entertainers. ‘Chocolate’ also is an entertainer but I have tried a new approach in the film. I believe it is evident on screen as well. A lot of hard work goes into the making of every film and success could be the result of that.

It was fun, especially with lots of youngsters around. We were confident about the storyline. Moreover, we had taken a great deal of care to come up with a well-knit script. Although there were no doubts about casting Prithviraj as the hero, we were not sure about the heroine until we saw Roma in ‘Note Book.’ Both their characters are strong individuals and they have lived up to our expectations. I wanted the film to be a colourful affair and the producers had no problems in spending money to enhance the visual impact.

‘Chocolate’ narrates a story that is happening now. The biggest attraction about it is, perhaps, that its theme has never been discussed before. So, there is no room for comparison with ‘Classmates’ or any other campus film for that matter.

Prithviraj has already proved his ability as an actor and I was waiting for the right script to do a film with him. I was really impressed by his performances in Tamil films such as ‘Mozhi’ and ‘Parijatham,’ especially his ability to handle humorous scenes. As I said before, we had already decided that only Pritiviraj would be the hero of ‘Chocolate.’

Perhaps, it could be due to our innate reluctance to experiment much and the preference to stick to the proven track.

(Smiles) It is not being done in a deliberate way. ‘Chocolate’ has a storyline and a theme and there has been no attempt to introduce slapstick scenes for comic relief. The humour in the film is integral to the theme and the situations. There is no denying the fact that comedy has many takers in Kerala.

No. But we share a good rapport. His comic timing is excellent and he comes up with witty suggestions to improve his scenes. like it did in films like ‘Mayavi’ for instance.

There cannot be anything beyond the appreciation of my gurus in the field like Rafi-Mecartin, Siddique-Lal and Rajasenan.

My next project with Dileep, scripted by Benny P.Nayarambalam, is slated to start in July. Films with Mohanlal and Mammootty are also in the pipeline. I am also planning another project with some young faces in the lead.

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