As an actor, Murali Gopy calls himself a ‘foot soldier’ of a film, following the instructions of the director and the technicians “even if it is my story”. The film in question is Ananthan Kaadu, which he has written and acted in as well. “When I act in a film that I have written, I know where the character comes from. I act to the medium, which is cinema, different from writing [as a creative medium].” The conversation is about how a writer separates himself as an actor from his story. 

Ananthan Kaadu, which hits screens on June 25, has been directed by Jiyen Krishnakumar. Jiyen is the director of Tiyaan (2017), also scripted by Murali.

A period film

Ananthan Kaadu is a ‘period’ film set in the late 1980s-90s, a time of flux in a country on the threshold of liberalisation, political and social changes it birthed. A “time for correction,” Murali calls it. 

“It is based in Thiruvanathapuram, which was once called ‘Ananthan kaadu’ [the forest of Anantha, the serpent deity on whom Lord Vishnu reclines], in ancient times. At its core is the concept that even when we call ourselves ‘civilised’, there is a jungle within us. In our minds we still hold the wild. It is still the survival of the fittest….”

The film is inspired by the stories and episodes that he heard and saw as a student in the city during the period. “The script has been devised, visually fashioned in the style of a graphic novel.” 

Most of the stories he tells, like Left Right Left or Ee Adutha Kaalathu, Tiyaan, Lucifer and Empuraan, are socio-political commentary. Ananthan Kaadu does not sound very different, though he refuses to give away anything about the plot. 

A multilingual terrain

The characters speak a different language, depending on where they are from, like the lead Arya, who speaks Tamil; others speak Kannada apart from Malayalam. “The linguistic terrain of the film is vast. It can be called a pan-Dravidian film for all South Indian languages are spoken.”  

Arya was his first choice for the lead from the get-go. “I had this wish to cast him in one of my films ever since I saw Naan Kadavul; he was intense in it. His athleticism, and there is something about his eyes…when I put pen to paper for this film, drafting this character, the only face that came to mind was Arya’s.” He met Arya via the producer, and the actor was in right away when he heard the story.  

The conversation loops back to his writing: “The success of my screenplay depends on the director being on the same page as me. It is a union of sorts. I always ensure my presence on the set; I have a hotline with the director.” 

And when he is acting in it, is there the urge to chip in with suggestions for the director or the actor, since it is his story and he has imagined the characters? “Writing is like creating a command plan for battle. Acting is being a foot soldier, following the director’s and technicians’ command.”    

Ananthan Kaadu releases on June 25