Adarsh Sukumaran and Paulson Skaria talk about scripting ‘Kaathal - The Core’

Adarsh Sukumaran and Paulson Skaria talk about writing Kaathal - The Core directed by Jeo Baby and starring Mammootty and Jyothika that has turned out to be one of the biggest hits of malayalam cinema this year

The crowd favourite of International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) 2022 was Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Mammootty-starrer Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam. Among the delegates who thronged the theatres to watch the movie was Adarsh Sukumaran and Paulson Skaria.

Little did the scriptwriter duo know that their movie, Kaathal-The Core, the Mammootty-Jyothika starrer directed by Jeo Baby, would be welcomed the same way at the next edition of the IFFK. “We had come to IFFK last year after the shoot of Kaathal.... Seeing the crowd for Nanpakal... we wondered if we would be able to bring Kaathal... to the next IFFK. It was a wonderful moment when that dream was fulfilled this year and all shows were jam-packed,” says Adarsh.

Paulson adds, “We didn’t expect the film to be welcomed so warmly especially since it is still running in cinemas. We knew that the film would be discussed but not to this extent. Even Jeo chettan (Jeo Baby) did not expect this response.”

Kaathal... is the story of Mathew Devassy (Mammootty), a retired bank manager, who is all set to contest a local panchayat election when his wife of 20 years, Omana (Jyothika), files for divorce stating that her husband is in a relationship with a man, Thankan (Sudhi Kozhikode), who runs a driving school. Mathew, father to a teenager, is in denial but manages to come out towards the end.

Adarsh, 29, and Paulson, 27, debuted as scenarists with the surprise hit of the year, Neymar, a breezy story of an indie dog. Adarsh is also the co-writer of the blockbuster of the year,RDX, with Shabas Rasheed. In a chat with MetroPlus, the duo talks about finding their way in Malayalam cinema, the success of Kaathal... and more.

The duo says that it was their love for cinema that brought them together. “We have been friends for over 10 years now. Although we didn’t study together (Paulson is an engineer, while Adarsh is a post graduate in television journalism) our colleges were on the same campus (Mar Athanious College, Kothamangalam). Our common friend Devadath Shaji (co-writer of Bheeshma Parvam) used to make short films and we used to work in it. That’s how we met,” says Paulson.

They used to write stories and often shared them with each other. “After a point, when it became a question of surviving in the industry, we decided to write together. Kaathal... was our first joint script,” he adds.