Exclusive! Jeo Baby: I’m not worried about Sree Dhanya Catering Service’s limited release as long as people like its content

With his direct-to-OTT release The Great Indian Kitchen, director Jeo Baby proved that ‘content is king’, with the film turning out to be one of the most lauded ventures in Indian cinema during the pandemic year of 2020. With his latest release Sree Dhanya Catering Service, the director once again is out to prove that point while also having fun, by taking in a challenge of doing a full-length comedy.

In an exclusive chat with OTTplay ahead of the film’s release on August 26, the director said, “If The Great Indian Kitchen was about the women’s kitchen, this one is about a group of men, who get together to cook biriyani. It’s a story that people in Kerala would relate to.” While it does have its share of gender politics, Jeo, who has also acted in the movie, says that he has tackled it in a lighter vein through the movie.

While The Great Indian Kitchen as well as his anthology Freedom Fight had established actors such as Nimisha Sajayan, Suraj Venjaramoodu and Joju George, Jeo has chosen to work with a group of relatively new actors in Sree Dhanya Catering Service that include his wife Beena, Prashanth Murali, Sumesh Moor and Anna Fathima.

On the reason, the filmmaker, who will next collaborate with Mammootty, said, “Firstly, it had a lot to do with how comfortable I was working with these group of people and then it was also a movie that I wanted to do in this particular way. It’s about the people living in Kottayam-Idukki border and I have treated it as a story that happens in my hometown. So, naturally I know how people there are and so the search was to cast actors who fit the role. The casting was mainly through my friends and those who had expressed interest to collaborate with me.”

The main challenge the film will have to face in its first week is that it will have a limited release. This is due to movies such as Nna Thaan Case Kodu and Thallumaala still running in theatres, leaving only few centres for this week’s releases that include Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Theerppu, Joju George’s Peace, Krishna Sankar’s Kudukku 2025 and Sree Dhanya Catering Service.

Jeo, however, tells us that he isn’t worried about that. “I believe right now, if people like the content, then a lot of the audience will watch it. People are interested in such movies now. We are aware that the film is releasing along with bigger movies but if people like the content, that wouldn’t be too much of an issue as it will change,” says the director.