Exclusive! Kunchacko Boban’s Nna, Thaan Case Kodu is a courtroom drama about a social issue

Director Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval has his hands full these days. After Android Kunjappan Ver. 5.25, the filmmaker completed shooting for Nivin Pauly’s Kanakam Kamini Kalaham and will soon begin filming Kunchacko Boban’s Nna, Thaan Case Kodu.

In an exclusive interview with OTTplay, Ratheesh talked to us about the Kunchacko Boban-starrer, which is based on a social issue. “The crux of the film is Kunchacko Boban’s character taking a small issue to the court and trying to defend his case. The movie is a courtroom drama, in which 80% of the film happens inside a court,” he said.

Even though the majority of the movie is set inside a court, Ratheesh tells us it’s not a film made on small canvas by any means. “The rest of the 20% is big. The film has scenes like a swearing-in ceremony, political party meeting and a temple festival. The film wasn’t scripted to be shot keeping in mind the pandemic restrictions. It was written during the first lockdown, when all of us hoped that everything would return to normal after 6-7 months. Even in the court scenes, we need 100 people on the sets. If you go to a judicial first class magistrate court, you would find so many people there. We need that in our movie too. So, the film can go on floors effectively only when the government relaxes the restrictions,” he tells us.

The movie will also be different from the usual court dramas. “When people think about courts, they usually have an image of a judge, advocates and the surroundings through the films they have watched. But with this movie, we are trying to break that. It’s a realistic film; though it will have its quirks, it will be balanced with the realistic elements. The film won’t have those long speeches. We have tried to stick to court formats and to make the general audience understand them better, we might have to explain them. At the same time, it’s not a movie made to show court proceedings, and yet the viewer would feel like they are inside a courtroom,” explains the director.

On the title of the film that is in line with the quirky names of his previous two movies, Ratheesh says, “If you look at it, it’s a phrase that everyone would have used at least once in their lives. When you are in the middle of a spat, you would say, ‘Nna, thaan poyi case kodu (If so, go file a legal case)’. The way we say it might change with each district but ultimately it’s about that ‘I don’t care’ attitude. That’s also why I zeroed in on that title.”

Apart from Kunchacko Boban, the movie also has Vinay Forrt and Saiju Kurup in pivotal roles. The movie is currently expected to go on floors in October, depending on the pandemic situation and restrictions.

Also read: Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval: Kanakam Kamini Kalaham’s humour evolved during its shoot