Anand Sreebala takes references from Mishel Shaji death and 2 other ongoing cases: Abhilash Pillai | Exclusive

Amid all the noise of Suriya’s Kanguva, the news of the release of Arjun Ashokan’s Anand Sreebala, which hits theatres on November 15, might seem almost drowned out. But that’s entirely the opposite of what the movie will be trying to achieve – which is raise voice for justice of those who are denied, says its scriptwriter Abhilash Pillai.

Much like his previous scripts – Amala Paul’s Cadaver, Indrajith Sukumaran’s Pathaam Valavu and Anna Ben, Roshan Mathew-starrer Night Drive , the upcoming movie too is influenced by a true story, the most obvious being the death of Mishel Shaji, whose body was found in the backwaters of Kochi in 2017.

Anand Sreebala is based on cases that are still being probed: Abhilash Pillai

“I have always tried to keep a thread based on real-life events intact, while weaving a cinematic story around it,” says Abhilash. “But Anand Sreebala was a much more challenging project in that regard, because I have taken references from two to three real-life cases which are still live. That’s why it was also more time-consuming process as compared to my previous projects. It took almost one-and-a-half years to script this film.”

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Ask him if the film, helmed by director Vinayan’s son Vishnu Vinay, is also an attempt to restart conversations on similar cases such as Mishel’s that seem to not have provided closure to the near-and-dear ones, and he says, “I had put up a post recently that was shared widely. It said, ‘For justice, I can raise my voice to any extent’. This is true. For Anand Sreebala, apart from this case, I have also taken references from several other cases with ongoing investigations. None of these have reached a conclusion, received a judgment or given any closure. I staunchly believe that they should get justice and it shouldn’t be denied. The only way I can raise my voice is through my medium – which is cinema.”

‘Arjun Ashokan and Sangita play cops in Anand Sreebala’

The movie did catch the attention of the audience, since its announcement, especially because of its title. “For this story, I couldn’t have chosen a more apt name. Arjun’s character is Anand, and Sangita (Madhavan Nair) chechi plays his mother Sreebala. Few people use their mother’s name as their surname. In the film, both are police officers and how they get involved in the investigation forms the crux of the story,” he says.

How much does having someone like Arjun as the protagonist, also help the audience focus on the content than the heroics of the actor who is portarying it? “I think of an actor’s face only after I have finished writing my script. I trust my content, my director and our team. We finalise the actor through our discussions. We needed someone like Arjun Ashokan to play Anand Sreebala in this film. I think it’s the first title character he has played and he has done complete justice to the role,” explains Abhilash, adding that all the artistes in the movie including Sangita, Aparna Das and Malavika Manoj “have done their parts well”.

Abhilash Pillai to direct a film next

Post Anand Sreebala, Abhilash’s next release will be a horror-comedy titled Sumathi Valavu, which has him teaming up with Malikappuram director Vishnu Sasi Shankar again. “It’s also based on a true story,” he says. “After that film, I will be focusing on my directorial, which I have envisioned as a big project. It will need some time for pre-production work. I also have a film in Tamil and Hindi, apart from a few scripts I have already committed in Malayalam.”

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