Exclusive! Srinath Rajendran: Kurup was my dream but Dulquer was the one who worked to realise it

In less than 10 days, director Srinath Rajendran and Dulquer Salmaan would be “realising a dream” that they had first talked about almost a decade ago, after completing their debut venture Second Show. Kurup, the much-awaited film centred on Kerala’s infamous fugitive Sukumara Kurup is set to hit theatres across the world, and you could almost sense the pure passion with which Srinath has approached this project as he talks about the film and the research that has gone into it, as we catch up with him in Kochi.

In an exclusive interview with OTTplay, Srinath addresses if the team has glorified Sukumara Kurup through the movie, Dulquer’s contribution to the film and more.

Kurup has been in the making for almost seven years now and the idea must have stemmed much before that. What about him captivated you the most to make a full-fledged film on him?

Kurup as a concept is an urban legend. I was born in 1984 and since then, this mystery has been unsolved. So, if I wanted to do a movie on the mystery genre, as far as I am concerned, this is the story that I want to make. And it’s such a noted story. So, frankly that’s the prime reason.

Sukumara Kurup has a series of incidents from his Air Force days to him going abroad with a passport in a new name that organically lend itself to making him an interesting personality as a movie protagonist.

I believe everyone’s life is a movie, but the story of Kurup is set in a beautiful time period. The 70s are awesome and the 80s are great on a whole different level. To tell a mystery in such an alluring time period itself makes it stand apart from any movie we have watched. So, part of the movie is taking the audience through that journey. What little we know about Kurup’s life itself is fascinating, so what I understood is that if we go in depth, it just becomes all the more enthralling.

Was there a particular period that was more challenging than the others to film for Kurup?

The movie begins from the late 1960s. So, the time period between then and 1984 is well documented. For instance, the Malayalam film Vilkkanundu Swapnangal was shot in the UAE at that time in real locations. So, that was a reference for us when we were recreating that era. But the movie is about how we perceive that time period. This is what we have applied to all the other aspects too.

Another instance is that cinematographer Nimish Ravi’s palette reference was how a still photographer from outside Kerala had viewed the State. So, that’s how detailed every technician in Kurup had worked to recreate the past.

From what you say, the lion’s share of the time would have been invested in the pre-production in terms of conception and design.

I believe the writer is the star of the movie, not its actors or director. When KS Aravind and Daniell Sayooj Nair were working on Kurup’s screenplay, I was with them, simultaneously understanding their perspectives and learning about the 60s, 70s and 80s. I had to study it in depth to recreate that period.

Kurup was conceived in 2012 after Second Show during my discussion with Jithin K Jose. But back then, my experience was doing only a small film with a Rs 1.5 crore budget and Kurup was a massive step. After conceiving the film, we understood it was a dream that we might not realise. When I bounced it off of Dulquer, he told me, ‘It’s a dream right? It will happen one day’. So, from that stage to Dulquer coming on board as an actor and a producer, and making the movie, we have all put in our genuine, passionate effort to bring out this film.

Sukumara Kurup is wanted for the cold-blooded murder of Chacko in 1984. As the film revolves around him and has a superstar such as Dulquer playing the lead, does it anyway glorify him?

How can you glorify a person who killed an innocent man? How can a socially-responsible writer or filmmaker do that? You can’t. The rest, the audience will have to watch and find out.

Did Dulquer have any inhibition playing Kurup?

When we narrate an idea, we don’t talk about just the character; we discuss how the entire film will be. Dulquer is someone who is sensible enough to understand what the film is, and that’s why he came onboard. For him, it’s just another character and it’s a zone that he hasn’t explored. That again makes it interesting.

Last year, after the first teaser, Chacko’s family had come out against glorifying Kurup.

We clearly understand where they are coming from. In the video, Kurup’s character says, ‘From now, I will decide who sees me… no matter if it’s the police or politicians’. When the dialogue is standalone, it might elicit applause. But that’s just for the promo. When you watch it in the film as part of the sequence of events, you would know a scoundrel is saying that line and that’s the way he has been living his life. That gives it context and changes the perspective.

As you had earlier said, Sukumara Kurup’s life is documented. While making a film on such a character, it poses a challenge on keeping the audience engaged because they, most often than not, know what’s coming. How did you tackle that in a project like Kurup?

The best way to answer this would be to watch the film, because otherwise I would have to reveal the film’s structure and how I conceived it.

The movie also has a stellar cast – with Indrajith Sukumaran, Sobhita Dhulipala, Sunny Wayne, Shine Tom Chacko and Shivajith Padmanabhan. How did you go about that?

Dulquer, somehow, matched the look of so-called Sukumara Kurup. Similarly, we had a set of images as references of other people and we wanted actors with those looks. The next step was to ensure who would portray that role the best. So, those were the thoughts behind the casting process. That’s how we zeroed in on actors such as Shine and Sobhita. It was essentially similar to recreating the time period; we had references and it was just about finding the suitable people to play the parts. Again, after watching the movie, you would understand the reason behind our casting. Also, all the actors are brilliant performers and this was an experiment on how they could fit into these roles.

Was Dulquer the first choice to play Kurup?

Oh yes. I had narrated the story to him in 2012 and back then, Dulquer or Srinath Rajendran weren’t big names for anyone to invest in us for a Rs 35 crore project. But within this time span, he reached that level. He took the effort to do films in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. He was growing in stature. Kurup was my dream, but Dulquer was the one who was working to realise it. He was the one who did films across the country and at one point said, ‘Let’s do this film’. By then I had finished the research and the screenplay was ready. Then he said we can produce the film, because in that case, we won’t be liable to anyone. So, more than a director’s film, Kurup is a movie by Srinath Rajendran and team. Everyone who has worked in it – be it Nimish Ravi, Ronex Xavier, Sushin Shyam or Praveen Varma – was passionate about the film and that was the biggest blessing.

Right now, you are probably the best person to say how much Dulquer has evolved as an actor – from Second Show to Kurup.

That’s something that everyone can see, he has been constantly evolving. While he has grown as an actor, he hasn’t changed as a person. He has a daughter now, and through her he is becoming refined and beautiful as a human being. When people become better, it’s a great feeling that rubs off on others as well.

Also read: Kurup preview: All you need to know about Dulquer Salmaan and Sobhita Dhulipala’s crime thriller