A love story of a Hindu boy and a Muslim girl obviously provides room for conflict between two families.
Benny Thomas’s debut film, Mylanchi Moonchula Veedu, is woven around this plot, scripted by duo Udayakrishna and Siby K Thomas. The screenwriters are noted for their commercial blockbusters, namely C.I.D. Moosa, Twenty, Pokkiri Raja, Christian Brothers and Mayamohini.
Veteran actor Madhu plays Soya Sahib, the head of an illustrious Muslim family from Malabar. Siddique is his onscreen son, Kasim Bai. Kasim has two daughters, Waheeda and Shahina.
“Waheeda’s wedding is fixed but on the eve of the ceremony, she elopes with her lover who is a Hindu,” Thomas revealed.
Kaniha plays Waheeda.
Following that incident, Soya and Kasim make it clear to everyone, stating explicitly with a board outside their house, that people of other religions were hitherto barred from entering their house.
The story moves ahead when Kasim is bedridden following a paralytic attack and the search for a good doctor is on.
“His nephew Anwar [played by Asif Ali] brings home an ayurvedic doctor, who is a Hindu but changes his name from Madhavan Kutty to Mammootty in order to treat Kasim,” added Thomas who has assisted directors P.S. Mohan, Sandhya Mohan, V.K. Prakash and Major Ravi.
“There are several humorous situations centred around the doctor who tries to hide his identity. Jayaram’s flair for good comedy keeps the audience in splits. Jayaram understood perfectly what I envisioned of his character. His unassuming nature made working on the sets a pleasure.”
Adding to the humour are actors Baburaj in the role of an allopathic doctor and Kalabhavan Shajon in a significant role. Sai Kumar plays Narayan Kurup, the head of the Hindu family at loggerheads with Soya’s. Meera Nandan is Shahina, who is engaged to Anwar.
Thomas fondly treasures his moments with Madhu, a stickler for punctuality.
“Madhu sir’s child-like enthusiasm towards his role is infectious.”
Produced by Haneef Mohammad, Mylanchi Moonchula Veedu, was shot in Hyderabad and Ottapalam. Visually challenged Afsal Yousuf makes his debut as music composer. Ajayan Vincent is the cinematographer.
Happy with the money that the film has been raking in at the box office, Thomas assured, “This family entertainer will appeal to everyone with its situational comedy. Watch out for the climax scene where Asif Ali delivers a dialogue that will make viewers ponder.”
