Janaki Jaane: Saiju Kurup plays a road contractor, Navya Nair's a printing press employee in feel-good film | Exclusive

After playing the leads VK Prakash’s Oruthee last year, Navya Nair and Saiju Kurup have teamed up once again in Aniesh Upaasana’s latest directorial Janaki Jaane.

The team had recently released the poster of the film, which is backed by Uyare producers S Cube. In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, Aniesh, who is making his comeback after six years, tells us, “Saiju chettan and Navya play the protagonists in the movie, which is a feel-good, family entertainer told through humour. It’s a movie that would remind the audience of such films in the 90s.”

Apart from the duo, the movie also has Sharafudheen, Kottayam Nazeer and Johny Antony as part of the cast. “The film has a small subject and that a lot of people are familiar with, but I believe has not been told before,” he says.

Aniesh, who had previous helmed movies such as Matinee, Seconds and Popcorn, says that the delay in his next directorial was because he had decided to do a movie based on his own script. On the characters, the filmmaker says, “Saiju chettan plays a road contractor while Navya will be seen as a printing press employee. The former approaches her with a marriage proposal and what happens next form the plot.”

The team has completed the shoot of the film and is currently busy with the dubbing. Puzhu director Ratheena has served as the executive producer of the film, which has Syamaprakash MS as the cinematographer and Noufal Abdullah as its editor. “We are planning a theatrical release by April this year,” Aniesh explains. Last year, Saiju had played several films as the lead character including Upacharapoorvam Gunda Jayan and Anthakshari.

Navya, meanwhile, has also signed up director Ratheesh K Rajan’s directorial titled Start Action Savithri, in which she plays a homemaker looking to produce a short film.