Adhil Maimoonath Asharaf on ‘Ntikkakkakkoru Premondarnn’: ‘I wanted to make it look as real as possible’

Adhil’s Malayalam film, Ntikkakkakkoru Premondarnn, a love story about estranged childhood sweethearts meeting after several years is peopled with relatable characters

Adhil Maimoonath Asharaf was confident that he did not want his first directorial venture to be a rehash of stereotypical characters and story-telling. As a result, the director’s Ntikkakkakkoru Premondarnn (My brother had a love), also scripted by him, is a love story with engaging characters and a refreshing narrative.

Adhil’s casting coup was getting Bhavana in the lead. The popular actor makes her comeback to Malayalam cinema, after more than five years, in Ntikkakkakkoru Premondarnn. She plays the heroine to Sharafudheen’s Jimmy.

Adhil, an editor, was planning to turn director with a big-budget film. However, when he found it difficult to find producers for the project, he remembered a story that he had and decided to revive it. “Sharaf was the first actor we approached to play Jimmy,” Adhil says over phone from Chalakudy. “I wanted a well-known actor who had not been active on the big screen to play the heroine. The story is about two people meeting after several years. I felt a heroine returning to cinema after a gap would go with the flow of the narrative.”

That is when Bhavana’s name cropped up. Adhil wondered if she would be interested in the movie and approached her through Renish Abdulkhader, one of the producers of the film with Rajesh Krishna. After listening to the story and reading the script, Bhavana agreed.

Adhil’s directorial skills come to the fore in the shaping of the key characters, whether it be Nitya (Bhavana), Jimmy (Sharaf), his parents and relatives, his pampered much-younger sister, Mariyam (Saniya Rafi), or the others who people the story. “We have met all these people in real life. However, when it comes to the screen, a lot of the characters get templated. I wanted to make it look as real as possible. I depended on my circle of friends and relatives to mould the characters.”

So, Jimmy is far removed from the alpha males commonly seen in Malayalam cinema. Jimmy, quite a people pleaser, sheds tears, is hesitant about taking a stand when it comes to major decisions, and does not like to hurt his parents or loved ones.

The director explains that the actor took time to get into the shoes of his character as it was a role that he had not played before. “He wanted a reference for Jimmy, which I did not have. I gave him an elaborate sketch of the role and that helped him, eventually, to live Jimmy on screen.”