Saiju Kurup: Pappachan Olivilaanu is based on a true incident that happened during the director’s childhood

Saiju Kurup opens up about essaying a man in his late 40s in his latest comedy drama, Pappachan Olivilaanu

Saiju Kurup in a still from Pappachan Olivilaanu

Post pandemic, things have surely looked up for actor Saiju Kurup. The Malayalam actor, who is already into his 18th year in his career now has a slew of films as the titular character with writer-director Sinto Sunny’s Pappachan Olivilaanu being the latest.

In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, Saiju, who will be seen playing a man in his late 40s once again after Upacharapoorvam Gunda Jayan last year, says he is chuffed about how the movie has come out.

Also read: Pappachan Olivilaanu: Animation video song of the Saiju Kurup starrer is out

“It’s a family comedy-drama that is based on a real-life case that happened at Sinto Sunny’s hometown during his childhood. A lot of people there became suspects because of a curious incident. So, Sinto took that idea, added cinematic elements to develop it into a movie,” says Saiju.

Also read: Pappachan Olivilaanu director: Many producers pulled out after knowing Saiju Kurup plays the lead

On his character Pappachan, the actor says, “He’s flamboyant, if I had to summarise in a word. He’s a happy-go-lucky achayan, who has a family and has no financial issues. But he has this habit of bragging and once such an incident lands him in a soup.”

Saiju, who will also be seen in Sony LIV web series Jai Mahendran tells us that the character in the film “was conceived and shaped well”. “In fact, we would find such people in the rural areas of Kottayam and Idukki. I hadn’t taken the reference of anyone in real life, but there will be shades of people that I had met previously,” he says.

Pappachan Olivilaanu, which is set to hit theatres on August 4, also has Aju Varghese, Vijayaraghavan, Johny Antony and Srinda as part of the cast. Incidentally, Saiju will once again collaborate with the film’s director for his upcoming project. “Irrespective of the fate of Pappachan Olivilaanu at the box office, I will be working with the team on another film that has Sinto as its writer and this film’s cinematographer Sreejith Nair as its director,” he explains.

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