‘Padayottam is a gangster comedy’

Ever since the intriguing first look of Padayottam came out, people have been curious about Biju Menon's character in the film. The film's writers, Ajay Rahul and Arun AR, call it a gangster-comedy. "Biju Menon plays a popular don from Trivandrum who is hired on contract to carry out a payback mission. He has a small gang of his own and one of its members is played by Dileesh Pothan. They take a road trip to Kasargode and some funny situations happen along the way and at the place they go to," says the duo.

The inspiration for the character came to them while travelling on a bus. "There was this man that caught our attention. He looked peculiar and he had this get-up that had us wondering if he was a gangster or someone ordinary. And we couldn't imagine anyone other than Biju in this role."

Though both of them were equally involved in writing the script, they say there haven't been many disagreements between them. "Before we both sit down to develop the script, we discuss the ideas, scenes and dialogues we have in our mind. Once we come to a solid conclusion on how to go about everything, we proceed to write the script. But we do everything in conjunction with the director Rafeek Ibrahim. If he has any doubt later regarding something in the script, he can approach either one of us."

Though they are confident with the film, they are a little concerned about how audiences would perceive this film. "When the first look came out, some people were wondering whether this is an extremely serious film with plenty of violence and bloodshed or a 'mass' film. We want to tell them that it's not. This is a realistic gangster film with enough opportunities for situational comedy."

The film also stars Lijo Jose Pellissery, Saiju Kurup, Anand Radhakrishnan, and Basil Joseph in supporting roles. It is scheduled for an Onam release.