There was never a dull moment on the set, says director Praveen Chandran about Malayalam web series, ‘Perilloor Premier League’

Personnel

“Perilloor’s simple yet cartoonish characters are the heroes of Deepu’s blog [Deepu Pradeep Blog]. His stories are very popular. As I am a fan of his writing, I contacted him and we became friends. I planned my directorial debut with a film written by him. But we couldn’t go ahead with the pre-production stage because the film required a crowd and that was not possible then because of the pandemic. So the project was stopped,” he says.

Deepu then wrote a script in which he brought characters from his blog and got in touch with the production house, E4 Entertainment. “They pitched the idea to Disney+ Hotstar and once the project was approved, Deepu suggested my name to direct the series,” says Praveen.

In PPL, Malavika Purushothaman (Nikila Vimal), a bird brain herself, wants to marry her childhood sweetheart Sriraman aka Srikuttan (Sunny Wayne) who is also talented. The story unfolds when he is persuaded to become the panchayat president thanks to his manipulative uncle Pithambaran (Vijayaraghavan).

Among the other balls living in Perilore are Soman (Ashokan), Malavika’s opponent, who has never won an election but is never trusted; Gomathi (Jaya Kurup), wife of Pithambaran, is the queen of thuggish dialogues, most of which are aimed at her husband Radhakrishnan (Sivaji Guruvayor). Then there is Srikuttan’s flirtatious uncle, the psycho Balachandran, the sadist (Aju Varghese), the fake astrologer Ambaresh (Sara Saba) and Pithambaran’s ambitious assistant, Chandu (Sajan Cherukail), among others. “Malavika is probably the only character Deepu has created for the series,” says Praveen.

Praveen admits that web series was an unfamiliar format for him as he had only worked in films. He started his career as an assistant director college days (2010) after attending film school. He became the chief assistant Patam Polefollowed by films such as Itihasa, Urumbukal Urangarila, Tiaani, Luke and Kurup.

“However, a web series gives you more freedom as a director. This also applies to scripting, as you can go into subplots without taking away from the main emotion. It was equally challenging and exciting to bring so many characters to the screen in PPL,” says Praveen.

The serial is set in Sultan Batter and Ambalavayal in Wayanad district. “These places have not been studied much. We visualized the village in our mind and were able to recognize such places. Our cinematographer [Anoop V Shylaja] He was able to capture the beauty of picturesque places,” he says.

The right actor

Praveen asserts that humor only works if it is the right actor. “We were able to bring the best actors, that too within the budget.

He was particularly keen on Vijayaraghavan to play Pithambaran. “Working with a seasonal cast was a learning experience. He wanted to be involved in designing his look because, he says, he considers each film his first film and that’s why he gets nervous. He requested dentures for the upper jaw so that the upper row of teeth would show when he smiled. He told us that usually when he smiles, only the bottom row is visible. But since his smile is Pitambaran’s main weapon, the actor wanted the character to have a full prosthetic smile!”

Somani is among Praveen’s favorite characters, but he was confused about who should get the role. “That’s when I saw it Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam And she loved Ashokan Chetanthe scenes of The audience was delighted to see Ashokan dancing his heart out, thinking that his party had won. Those moves were his and we all enjoyed them,” says Praveen.

Nikhila plays the lead in Praveen’s debut film and was a natural choice for PPL. “I knew she had a great sense of humor and playing the no-nonsense Malavika was a piece of cake for her. He proposed to Jaya [Jaya Kurup] As Gomati, as they worked in Ayalva. As for Sunny, having known him for many years, I wanted to explore a new side of him as an actor.

PPL has almost all the actors that Praveen has roped in for his first film which will go on floors soon. Some are from theater, some have acted in sitcoms, and some have done small roles in movies.

“I haven’t done much comedy in my career, but I love watching comedy. My first film will be stupid. The best thing about PPL was that there was never a dull moment on set.

“It’s nice when you do your job with a smile. All actors, regardless of experience, understood their characters perfectly and brought their best to the table. So each of them contributed to the success of PPL.”

Perilloor Premier League streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.