After making two critically acclaimed films—Melvilasam and Apothecary—director Madhav Ramadasan is back after a five-year hiatus with Ilayaraja, which has Guinness Pakru playing the lead. The film will be released on March 22.

On the film’s subject, Ramadasan says, “To put it vaguely, it’s about an ordinary man, his family and the financial difficulties they face, and how life experiences shape an individual. The protagonist’s kids learn about life by watching him, and there is an indirect statement being made about how parents force lessons on their children and instead let them learn things on their own. Sometimes kids become abnormally mature ahead of their age. The film explains how this can be unhealthy.”

The director says that it’s not a preachy film. “It’s not a serious film. We have tried to keep things as light as possible. Chess plays an important part in our film. A particular chess game paves way for important turns in the characters’ lives.”

With Gokul Suresh, Harisree Asokan, and Deepak Parambol play supporting characters, the script and dialogues of the film have been written by Sudheep T George.

Actor Jayasurya has sung a track—Kappalandi—penned by lyricist Santhosh Verma and composed by Ratheesh Vega.     The film produced by Sajith Krishna, Jayaraj T Krishnan, and Binish Babu has cinematography by Pappinu.