Gunda Jayan is different from Arakkal Abu: Saiju Kurup

We reported recently that Dulquer Salmaan is backing Saiju Kurup's Upacharapoorvam Gunda Jayan, which marks the first film distributed by Dulquer's production company Wayfarer Films.

Today, the makers released the first-look poster of Saiju in character on the actor's birthday. Interestingly, this is Saiju's 100th film as an actor.

Sharing the poster, Dulquer wrote, "Here is a first look poster from Upacharapoorvam Gunda Jayan. This film marks my brother Saiju Govinda Kurup’s 100th film. And today being his birthday, what better gift than to share this poster. We at Wayfarer Films are extremely happy to be a part of this lovely film and team. Happy Birthday Saiju Bhai!"

Saiju tells Cinema Express that though the film is a comedy, his character is not similar to the now popular Arakkal Abu character he played in the Aadu series of films. "Gunda Jayan has none of the qualities of Arakkal Abu. When Arun Vaiga (director) first told me about this character, I thought he would be a variant of Abu, given that this is a humorous family entertainer. But when I listened to the story, I realised he is a different character that bears no resemblance to Abu or any other character I have done before. He is a 45-year-old man who is not scary for the sake of comedy. He has the attitude of a gunda for real."

The film, directed by Arun Vaiga and scripted by Rajesh Varma, also features Premam actors Siju Wilson and Shabareesh Varma alongside Johny Antony, Sabumon Abdusamad and Jaffer Idukki.

Eldho Isaac is the director of photography, with Kiran Das as editor. Bijibal wrote the music to the lyrics by Harinarayanan.