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'22 Female Kottayam is a commercial thriller'
After the refreshing musical love story, Salt N' Pepper, director Aashiq Abu is ready with a thriller titled 22 Female Kottayam. The film is about a simple girl who comes to Bangalore to study nursing. Rima Kallingal plays the lead and the cast includes Fahadh Faasil, Prathap Pothen, T G Ravi and Sathaar.
As 22 Female Kottayam hits the screens today (April 13), here is a quick chat with director Aashiq Abu, on the making of the film. Excerpts:
What is 22 Female Kottayam all about?
In a line, this is about the life of a girl named Tessa K Abraham, who hails from Kottayam and narrates certain incidents that are happening in her life. She has studied nursing and her story takes an unprecedented turn during her stay in Bangalore. There are certain issues she faces that the film narrates.
What is she like?
She is a normal girl, whose parents are dead and she has a younger sister.
'The film has some surprise elements'
So, this is a female-oriented subject?
Absolutely. The title itself describes her, a 22-year-old girl from Kottayam.
Why did you decide on a more serious theme after a romantic musical like Salt N' Pepper?
This concept was there in my mind when I was working on my maiden venture, Daddy Cool. It stayed in my mind and I wanted to take it up at some point.
I got the confidence to go ahead with the subject after the success of Salt N' Pepper. This one is not the usual kind of storyline that will appeal to all producers. There is a certain amount of risk in it.
'There was a certain amount of risk in making the film'
Last year Malayalam cinema saw the emergence of a several new experiments like Traffic, Salt N' Pepper, Chappa Kurishu and Beautiful. Is 22 Female Kottayam continuing with the trend?
22 Female Kottayam has no similarity with any of these films and belongs to an entirely different genre. But it can definitely be called part of this new trend with the emergence of small films, even if it has no big stars.
What should the viewer expect?
This one is a commercial film, a thriller told in a different way. It has some surprise elements and I hope the audience accepts it.