Exclusive! Roshan Mathew: I’d never done anything like Neelavelicham before, I had to go with my gut instinct

Roshan Mathew tells us why Aashiq Abu’s period film Neelavelicham is a special movie to him

Roshan Mathew in a still from Neelavelicham

Neelavelicham, Aashiq Abu’s reimagined version of Vaikom Muhammed Basheer’s eponymous short story, has already piqued the curiosity of the Malayalam audience, by his very decision to tackle a story set in the 1960s. The responsibility of being part of a film based on Basheer's screenplay was not lost on its lead actors Tovino Thomas, Roshan Mathew and Rima Kallingal either.

In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, Roshan tells us, “The language used in the movie is something that was taken from Basheerian literature. Most of our efforts have been to tell the story as honestly as possible. We have tried to ensure that the effort we have put in doesn’t stand out on the screen.”

Also read: Exclusive! Tovino Thomas: Being an ardent Vaikom Muhammed Basheer fan, it’s a blessing to work in Neelavelicham

For Roshan, it was a special project even if you take away all the obvious reasons that it’s a version of one of Malayalam cinema’s all-time classic Bhargavi Nilayam and is based on Basheer’s screenplay of the film.

“It’s an exciting project because it almost felt like C U Soon; as in I have never done anything like this before. You really just have to go with your gut instinct. You have no other method of analysis to verify what you are doing is working. You have to just try it out and see. Those kinds of projects are always exciting,” says the actor, who will next be seen in Siddharth Bharathan’s Chathuram and Lijin Jose’s Chera.

Also read: Exclusive! Roshan Mathew: I enjoy the fact that the nature of survival in the film industry keeps changing

The actor explains another aspect he is looking forward to is the music of the film. “The music of Bhargavi Nilayam was remarkable. Aashiq ettan is also someone who has a good musical sense and so I am very excited about how he is going to incorporate music into Neelavelicham,” he says.

Neelavelicham, which wrapped up its shoot earlier in the year, has Bijibal and Rex Vijayan as its music directors. The movie is set to hit theatres in January 2023.

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