Romancham’s horror elements are toned down as it’s based on true incidents, says Jithu Madhavan | Exclusive

It’s been a while since a proper horror-comedy was released in Malayalam. The wait will end with debutant filmmaker Jithu Madhavan’s Romancham, starring Soubin Shahir, Arjun Ashokan and Chemban Vinod Jose. That said, the film will also have realistic elements, after all it’s based on true incidents that happened to the director and his friends.

The movie, which is set in Bengaluru, draws inspiration from an eerie sequence of incidents that happened to Jithu and his roommates. “Romancham is a horror comedy but the horror elements are minimal because the film is based on incidents that happened to my friends and me in 2006-07. We have only made some changes to it, to lend it a cinematic feel; but because it’s based on true incidents, there were limitations to that too,” says the director, in conversation with OTTplay.

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The movie has Sajin Gopu, Afsal, Siju Sunny, Abin Bino, Jagadish and Arjun Ashokan, playing characters based on Jithu’s friends Niroop, Harish, Mukesh, Jippan, Soman and Sinu, respectively. Soubin Shahir essays Jithu’s role. “As we couldn’t call him Jithu on the sets, we named Soubikka’s character Jibi,” says the filmmaker. “So, we have retained all the characters who stayed in the room. Only those who come to visit them are fictional.”

The director also explains that the camaraderie between the actors as well as the crew of the film helped make it a better movie than what they conceived. “Such films work better when there is that vibe between the actors. You cannot write these instances to shoot. The chemistry between the performers must develop organically and I believe it has come out well in this movie,” says Jithu.

Romancham, which is produced by Guppy director Johnpaul George, Girish Gangadharan and Soubin, is set to hit theatres on February 3, along with Vedikettu, Momo in Dubai and Iratta.