Deepu Karunakaran’s phone has not stopped ringing. Deluged with calls of appreciation, Karunakaran is soaking up all the compliments.
“Fireman went beyond my expectations,” said the Malayali director over the phone from Kerala.
This story on the lives of firemen and their challenges is Karunakaran’s fifth film. His earlier three films, Winter, Teja Bhai and Family and Crazy Gopalan, were all comedies. His fourth film, yet to be released, is Mission Tiger.
“When we started filming, I was wondering how I am going to handle a superstar like Mammuka [Mammootty]. He had several questions, but soon I realised that he was trying to get the precise idea of his character. Once his doubts were put to rest, it was smooth sailing. He is a director’s actor,” the 37-year-old filmmaker recalled.
Nyla Usha, an RJ on Hit 96.7 FM Radio (a Dubai Malayalam radio station), said that it was her policewoman role that drew her to the film. However, the initial excitement of wearing the uniform faded away some days, as she had to shoot the entire film in that attire.
“But to be honest, the uniform has some kind of power. The moment you are in it, you start feeling like one.”
This is her third film with Mammootty.
“My comfort level was a lot better,” she added. “Every movie is a new learning experience and so is every time you act with the legend. The shoots happened mostly in the night and sitting up till four in the morning was quite tedious. But Mammukka used to play songs on the sets and sometime movies were projected on the screen. That helped keep us awake and engaged.”
She calls Karunakaran the “coolest-headed” director she has worked with.
Fireman is produced by Milan Jaleel. Rahul Raj has scored music. Santosh Velayudhan is the cinematographer.
