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Ranjith Sankar: Molly Aunty is rocking

Techie turned filmmaker Ranjith Sankar made quite an impression with his maiden venture, Passenger. His next film, Arjunan Sakshi, failed to recreate the same excitement.

Now the director has made his third film, Molly Aunty Rocks, with a middle-aged woman playing the lead, which he believes hasn't been done before in commercial films in Kerala.

Revathy plays the lead in Molly Aunty Rocks and Prithviraj plays a young IRS officer.

Molly Aunty Rocks has been receiving heartening response from viewers.

Writer-director Ranjith Sankar talks about the film and how he came to make it. Excerpts:

Are you happy with the response to Molly Aunty Rocks?

The response from viewers during the first two shows was not so great, but it has been doing well from then on.

A relatively slow start was expected as it's pretty unconventional for the lead to be a middle-aged woman.

I have been receiving messages and calls appreciating the effort from several noted names in the industry.

'I had approached Revathy for a role in Mayflower but she was not too keen'

Have you been inspired by any real life characters while creating the character of Molly Aunty?

(Smiles) In fact, yes. One of my friends had told me about an aunt of his and that was the inspiration for this character. She is also a bank clerk who was abroad for many years.

I have never seen the woman in person and she doesn't watch many movies. She isn't aware that a character in a movie has been inspired by her.

What is Molly Aunty Rocks all about?

In the film, Molly Aunty (Revathy) is a middle-aged woman who had taken leave from her job as a bank clerk and was in the US with her husband and two daughters for 20 years.

Now she has come back and has been posted in a remote village. She stays alone and is generally a likeable woman. Things get interesting when she has a showdown with an income tax officer named Pranav Roy, played by Prithviraj.

You were actually planning another film titled Mayflower. How did Molly Aunty Rocks happen in between?

Mayflower was planned with Prithviraj and Jayasurya. But they didn't have the required dates.

Meanwhile I was working on this script as well and it shaped up nicely so we decided to go ahead with the story of Molly Aunty first

'Being a producer is not tough at all'

What was Revathy's response to her character when you narrated the story to her?

I had approached Revathy for a role in Mayflower but she was not too keen—she wanted something more challenging. I gave her the script of Molly Aunty and she liked it.

You have done two films in a row with Prithviraj. How is your equation with him?

It's actually very good and I feel it is becoming stronger. In fact, Prithviraj's August Cinema's is distributing the film.

You have turned producer with the film. How tough was that?

(Laughs) Nothing at all. If you employ the right persons, delegate the duties to them and trust them, then the job of producer will be easy. That is what I have learnt from this experience.

'My future projects will depend on the fate of Molly Aunty Rocks'

Looking back, what went wrong with Arjunan Sakshi?

Since I can't do anything about it now, I haven't really thought about it.

All of us attempt a film believing it is really good, but there may be pluses and minuses.

Which are your future projects?

I don't know right now. I have quite a few scripts with me. Future projects will depend on the fate of Molly Aunty Rocks.