Exclusive! Anoop Menon’s Varaal doesn’t support any political party or their agenda: Kannan Thamarakkulam

Multi-starrers have been the staple for director Kannan Thamarakkulam, whose previous releases included Achayans, Aadupuliyattam and Vidhi: The Verdict. His upcoming movie, Varaal, however is admittedly outside his comfort zone; it’s a political thriller starring Anoop Menon, Sunny Wayne, Prakash Raj, Renji Panicker, Madhuri Briganza and a host of other actors.

The film, which is scripted by Anoop Menon, is also special for Kannan as it’s his biggest project till date – in terms of the cast, budget and also scale at which it has been mounted. In an exclusive chat with OTTplay ahead of the film’s theatrical release on October 14, Kannan talks about Varaal and helming a multi-starrer amid the pandemic.

How does it draw parallels to contemporary Kerala politics?

Because it’s a thriller, I can’t go too much into the plot. But it has a riveting story that is filled with suspense. There will be characters that the audience would draw comparisons to, in real-life politics. That said, it’s a movie that promotes or openly supports any politician, party or their agenda. It openly says what it has to.

Though both you and Anoop Menon had worked together in Vidhi: The Verdict, what led to this collaboration, which has him scripting as well as playing the lead?

Both of us had planned several projects over the years but none of them materialised. He had told me about Varaal almost two years ago, but back then, it was planned as a totally different film; we have only retained the basic thread in our movie. But that got delayed because of the pandemic. I also got busy with another project, Virunnu, with Arjun Sarja. There was a schedule break and that was also around the time when Anoop pitched this subject to the producers, who were looking to do another film after Trivandrum Lodge. So, it got greenlit really quick.

Also read: Exclusive! Prakash Raj plays Kerala chief minister in Anoop Menon, Madhuri Braganza-starrer Varaal 

It's also because we got producers like Time Ads that we could do a film on such a big canvas with so many established actors, and that too amid the pandemic.

All your previous films also had a comedy track. This, however, is touted to be an intense political thriller.

Yes, it deals with contemporary politics. I also believe it’s the most commercial film in Anoop’s career. It’s also the biggest film he has scripted. It also has several leading actors including Sunny Wayne, Prakash Raj, Suresh Krishna and Renji Panicker playing pivotal roles. All of them are senior artistes from mainstream cinema. There were days when we had 30-40 established actors on the sets. But we didn’t have any cause for worry as they were all extremely professional.

Prakash Raj plays an important role in the movie. Was getting him to be part of this ensemble cast challenging?

We actually began our shoot with him. He’s a busy actor, who has projects in all languages across India. Right after we called him on the phone and narrated the thread of the story, he gave the dates and we immediately started the shoot.

You have directed films with an ensemble cast before too – be it Achayans, Aadupuliyattam or Vidhi. Did that make it easier to work in this film?

Honestly, it’s not a movie where you have a crowd of actors just for the sake of it. To tell this story, we need these many actors; all of them have powerful roles. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have signed the film. Their characters might not have a lengthy screen time but they have enough space in the movie. As you had said, because I had worked in multi-starrers before, doing Varaal wasn’t too difficult despite the number of actors. Also, the script of the film is the biggest highlight of Varaal. There’s a lot of interplay between the characters and how the game of politics actually unfolds.