Raghav Mirdath: Kaalangalil Aval Vasantham is about a man learning what love means to him

Kaalangalil Aval Vasantham, which is all set to hit theatres on 28 October, borrows its title from the Gemini Ganesan-Savithri song from the 1961 film Paava Mannippu. While the resemblance stops there, the poetic title closely ties in with the central theme of the film, assures director Raghav Mirdath.

According to the director, Even though the title refers to spring, the narrative of the film takes us through the four major seasons: summer, spring, autumn, and winter. The seasons chart the different phases in the protagonist's life as he figures out what love means to him. The director goes on to reveal his motivation to come up with such a story, “I was always fascinated by how a caterpillar goes through a metamorphosis to change into a completely different organism. I wanted my protagonist to  go through such a transformation.”

When asked about what defines his protagonist, Raghav recalls the genesis of the character that went on to become his protagonist, "Everyone has their own definition of love,” says director Raghav before continuing, “we tried to show one man’s metamorphosis and how he is pushed to find his own definition of love.”

The film stars Kaushik Ram, who is making his debut with the film. He plays Shyam, a man on a mission to find love, who also happens to be a massive film buff who has the habit of connecting the fantasy of films to the reality of his life, which inadvertently ends up causing a lot of problems for him. While talking about the choice to cast a debut actor in the role, Mirdath’s reasoning seems to interestingly mirror how the title is derived from the film’s central theme, “Being a film buff, our protagonist Shyam would spout film references, and fanboy over top actors every chance he gets. We thought it would be more relatable and believable if a new face did that,” talking about the female lead, he says, “to compliment the casting of a debutant male lead, we thought it would be prudent to cast a seasoned actor like Anjali Nair as the female lead.”

In films about a man’s quest to find love, his love interests are often relegated to just that: a romantic interest. Will Kaalangalil Aval Vasantham be any different? “No,” says the director, “we made a conscious decision to craft our female characters in such a way that it would not be totally wrong if you thought it was a female-centric film.”

Raghav Mirdath goes on to assure that despite exploring themes like love and relationships, Kaalangalil Aval Vasantham is crafted to be relatable to a wider range of audiences belonging to different age groups. According to the filmmaker, there is a strong musical element that pervades the entirety of the film; he is excited about the songs, which are apparently built around the four seasons. “The music in the film is composed by Hari SR, who has done a phenomenal job and I can’t wait for the audience to listen to the music,” the director’s excitement is evident as he signs off.