Long after a sweet-and-sour orange candy is gone, its taste lingers.
“Orange Mittai is akin to that,” says director Biju Viswanath of his upcoming Tamil film.
“The story is a reflection of life’s sweet and sour moments.”
Award-winning director Viswanath has made films in languages including Italian, Swahili and Irish. Orange Mittai is his tenth film and his first in Tamil.
Centred on a 50-year-old man, Kailash, played by Sethupathi, Orange Mittai, is based on Viswanath’s late father.
“My father was stubborn and preferred to do things himself,” remembered the filmmaker who runs a production house, Sol Cinema International, with offices in Florence, Berlin and Chennai.
Kailash lives alone in a mansion and when bored he dials 108 (the emergency number).
“On one such outing he meets a young paramedic and a bond develops,” added Viswanath, who was also a cameraman for Orange Mittai.
“It’s about the journey and being in the moment.”
Ramesh Tilak, who plays the paramedic, Sathya, added: “This is also a story about a man who misses his father.”
Sathya, while attending to elderly men, suffers from guilt pangs for having neglected his father when he was around.
Ashritha, a Hyderabad-based model, debuts in Tamil cinema as Kavya, Sathya’s girlfriend.
“She is a girl from Madurai, with middle-class sensibilities and vulnerabilities,” said Ashritha.
Sethupathi gained weight to give himself a paunch for the role.
“Viewers will connect with several moments onscreen just like we did during the making of the film,” said Sethupathi, who has written the script for Orange Mittai. This is his first production venture.
It’s been an eventful ride for Sethupathi who quit a well-paying job as an accountant in UAE to follow his love for cinema. An actor who has earned a reputation for experimenting with different roles, Sethupathi raises the bar again with Orange Mittai.
Will this candy linger long in the minds of viewers?
