‘Theevandi is not a dark film’

These days, any film starring Tovino Thomas instantly goes into the most anticipated list of many Malayali viewers. And after the success of Mayanadhi, everyone is eagerly waiting to see what kind of role the actor will be doing next. A new Tovino film, titled Theevandi, will be released on May 4, and its director, Fellini TP, a debutant, speaks to CE about the film.

We hear that Tovino is an extremely busy actor. How did you manage to get him for this film?

We actually talked to Tovino around two years back. This was around the time his Oru Mexican Aparatha had come out, and he was only beginning to get busy. And this being a role he hadn't done before, it instantly caught his fancy. But things are much different for him now; he has become much busier now.(laughs)

Can you tell us a little about Tovino's character? How different is it from his previous roles? Is there a lot of scope for comedy here?

He plays an unemployed guy who happens to be a chain-smoker. And that's how the title of the film came about. This is a different role for him, unlike anything you've seen him do before. I would say that it's a coming-of-age drama. And as for the comedy, it's more of a situational comedy. There is no forced humour here.

Is this a message-driven film?

Nothing like that. My intention was to do a feel-good entertainer. Normally, when you see someone do a film about drugs or alcoholism, you expect it to be so dark. My film, despite having a lead character who smokes, doesn't go there. When someone sees the promos of a movie about a smoker or a drinker, they tend to over-analyse it. This is not a serious film. We don't want people to think that this is a dark film, because smoking is not the main focus here.

But we can expect a lot of anti-smoking warnings popping up, right?

I expect there to be some, because the smoking scenes are going to be present throughout almost the entire film. But like I said, this film should be seen as a family-friendly entertainer and not a public health warning.