Senna Hegde says his Malayalam film ‘1744 White Alto’ is a crime comedy that unfolds in 48 hours
The Hindu
Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam director Senna Hegde’s 1744 White Alto, releasing on November 18, has Sharafudheen in the lead
Expectations are high as filmmaker Senna Hegde’s 1744 White Alto reaches cinemas on November 18. Senna’s previous Malayalam film Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam, released on OTT, was a winner all the way, bagging the Kerala State and National film awards for the Malayalam filmmaker in addition to commercial success.
Senna says 1744 White Alto is completely different from Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam, which was about an engagement that goes awry.
Senna calls his new film “a nadan (ethnic) film, but one that looks and feels a little like a Western film with dry grasslands, vast landscapes and emptiness, much like the scenery we have seen in Western films. Kasaragod has that kind of terrain in summer. But, at the end of the day, it is a comedy, a crime comedy.”
He narrates that the story begins when a car gets lost and a case of mistaken identity creates a situation where groups of people are chasing each other. The car becomes the key in the whole equation. “1744 is the partial number of the car that goes missing and it is a white Alto. Everyone is searching for the car. That is why we made it the title of the film.”
He points out that most of his films do not have a big story. “Instead of plot-driven films, most of my films are character-driven.”
Explaining that his previous film also did not have an intricate plot, he points that there was no story per se. “It is a very thin thread that the film rests on. We have seen films in which a young woman elopes on the eve of her marriage or engagement. It’s the way we wrote and treated the film that made people notice it. We have followed the same process here. Something bad happens and the police gets involved. It revolves around a cat-and-mouse chase that unfolds over 48 hours. ’
In the lead is Sharafudheen, playing a cop who is trying to find the car. “He is chasing the bad guys, but who they are should remain a suspense,” maintains the director.