Iratta OTT: Joju George suggested that we make the characters twins, says Rohit MG Krishnan | Exclusive

Debutant filmmaker Rohit MG Krishnan’s Iratta, which had Joju George essaying a double role, shook the audience to core with its haunting climax when it released in theatres in February. As the movie is set for its OTT release on Netflix on March 3, the filmmaker reveals how we went about the script of the movie as well as its pace in an exclusive chat with OTTplay.

Ask him who was the first member in the team that he had narrated the script to and Rohit says, “It was Joju chettan. He was hooked by the climax and that’s the reason he signed the film.”

Also read: Iratta review: Joju George’s investigative drama is elevated by its haunting climax 

Joju is also Iratta’s co-producer, coming onboard after its initial producer had backed out after the pandemic. “Joju chettan was happy about playing the role and also the feedback of the movie. In several interviews, he had said that his characters in Iratta are among his most favourite roles,” says Rohit.

The Nayattu actor, in fact, was also elemental in pitching a crucial suggestion in the movie. “I was clear that I wanted to shock people with the revelation. But it was a long process. I had been working on its script for a long time and it was initially a slightly different version from the final film. Joju chettan was the one who suggested that we make both the characters twins and we also added the tail-end portions while we were shooting the movie,” he said.

Also read: Iratta director: Transforming into two different people seamlessly is a testament to Joju George’s skill | Exclusive

Rohit had been working on the script for about three years. Iratta is also a film where all the elements had to click for the final reveal to leave its impact. But did the continuous tweaking become difficult for him to be objective about the film? “No, I kept tweaking because each change made the script even more exciting for me. I, in fact, had to revisit the script multiple times to tighten it; this continued even while we were shooting the film,” he said.

One of the few grouses after its theatrical release was that the film had a sedate pace while it went back and forth in telling its protagonists Vinod and Pramod’s stories. “As far as the making was concerned, this was the pattern that we aimed for. Every film has its own pace. For Iratta to work, we had to tell each of those stories in that pace for the ending to stick,” Rohit explains, adding that he was pleased with the audience’s feedback. “People said that the ending haunted them. It also satisfied a lot of the audience in theatres,” he concludes.