Award-winning director Rahul Riji Nair’s next film is Dakini. The film is a comedy entertainer that has a largely senior cast of women actors in the lead, including Sarasa Balussery and Savithri Sreedharan, the actors who were lauded for their ‘mother’ characters in Sudani from Nigeria. Veterans Pauly Valsan and Sethu Lakshmi are also in the lead with Chemban Vinod, Aju Varghese, Indrans and Saiju Kurup playing important roles.
The official trailer of this film has been released and it promises to be a laugh riot. Produced by Sandip Senan and Aneesh M. Thomas under the banner of Urvashi Theaters, the film’s distribution will be handled by Vijay Babu’s Friday Film House.
Director Rahul Riji Nair shot to limelight with his debut movie Ottamuri Velicham winning the Kerala State Film Award for Best Feature Film last year. The film was also awarded the German Star of India [Best Feature Film], 15th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart this year. Incidentally, the film did not have a theatrical release but was released on an online platform.
Rahul is an accomplished short film and documentary maker as well. He has the documentary The Human Boundaries made in 2012 to his credit besides the short films Troll Life, Netaji, Rs. 2, MJ and Malai Kofta.
In an interview to the New Indian Express, the director is reported to have told, “After Ottamuri..., I thought of doing something more fun. Ottamuri... had a tight and gripping narrative where you had to follow a certain rhythm. There was no room for improvisation, whereas in the case of Dakini, we were able to try out different things."
About his cast, he had said, "These ladies were game for anything. And this film has songs, dances and even fights. I was astonished! Unlike us men who can get lazy at times, they were full of vigour, despite their age. I never saw them complain about anything. If we needed retakes, they were ready to do it. And we shot in Ooty, of all places (laughs).”
(Content provided by Digital Native)