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You will see a different kind of cop, with a powerful screen presence.

Gunning for the corrupt: Mammootty plays Narendran, a honest cop who decides to take on the system.

Politics and cinema can be a potent combination in Kerala where every village teashop is abuzz with the latest political happenings, with all sorts of analyses cropping up. Cinema too occupies big space in Keralites’ lives. Put them together and it’s a heady combo.

The latest in this genre of movies that make a solid socio-political statement is ‘Roudram,’ with story, script and direction by Ranji Panikkar. It hits theatres soon.

Before its release, ‘Roudram’ has created history by getting a record amount for its satellite and video rights in India. “It was sold for Rs. one crore-plus, which is a record in the Malayalam industry,” says Panikkar.

Mammooty, who has been a screen cop 25 times, is donning the khaki for the 26th time in ‘Roudram,’ produced by Shahul Hameed Marikar and Anto Joseph, under the banner of Marikar films.

“He is not an IPS officer, but a non-cadre police officer, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, called Narendran, who is frustrated about a lot of things in the machinery,” Ranji Panikkar says of his protagonist.

If there is a cop, then surely there is murder most foul, or a land mafia or corruption in high places? Are there parallels to the real life situations in the State? Panikkar is non-committal about it but says Mammooty’s is a very different character from the usual brimstone-and-fire-spitting cop one sees on the silver screen. No swear words either. He’s a macho hero, who takes on the big guns.

“You will see a different kind of cop, with a powerful screen presence,” he says. Mammooty has also joined the club of actors who covet six-pack abs. “He was given time during the shoot days to train and work out for that macho image,” Panikkar discloses, raving about his hero’s newly acquired figure.

The canvas of ‘Roudram’ is big, as it encompasses a host of characters and situations, much bigger than Panikkar’s earlier movies which he penned or his maiden directorial venture, ‘Bharatchandran IPS.’ Most of the characters have specific roles to play and are not mere add-ons.

Sai Kumar plays a cantankerous villain and Panikkar feels this would be his career best performance, as also Subair’s, who has a good role. Vijayaraghavan has a meaty role. There are more actors in the cast, like Lalu Alex, Rajan P. Dev, Urmila Unni and Sona. Manju, who dons the role of Mammooty’s wife, is a young fashion designer who takes on the mature role with poise.

Panikkar always maintains there is no room for songs in his kind of movies. ‘Roudram’ is no exception. Rajamony scores the background music. Sanjeev Sankar who has teamed up with Panikkar for many films such as ‘Pathram’ and ‘Lelam,’ cranks the camera.

In the early days of his career, Panikkar dabbled with a different genre of films, such as ‘Dr. Pasupathy,’ which he penned. It was comedy but with stress on social evils of a funny kind. Who can forget Innocent, the quack vet and Kalpana, the UDC, or Nedumudi Venu, the panchayat president? ‘Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans’ was a comedy in parts but veered towards political chicanery later.

Ranji Panikkar

From then on, it has been political drama with the dialogue as king. Many characters in his movies have had vague resemblances to present day political figures. While in ‘Pathram’ he drew much from his experiences as a journalist, it was ‘Commissioner,’ which got the biggest applause so far, for depicting topical issues and cunning political characters, which went down well with a populace tired of political gimmickry.

Will he ever go back to comedy? “I hope to make a full length satirical movie with contemporary political issues sometime,” Panikkar says. His last movie, ‘Bharatchandran IPS’ was made more than two years ago. The last minute finishing touches are being made for ‘Roudram.’

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