Southern Spice: Mohanlal, Siddique reunite

Director Siddique and south Indian superstar Mohanlal have come together after 20 years with Ladies and Gentleman, a Malayalam film. The pair last worked together in Vietnam Colony, a commercial hit.

Siddique is known for directing three versions of the film, Bodyguard, first in Malayalam, which was a super hit, leading to a remake in Tamil called Kaavalan, and then another Bodyguard, starring Salman Khan, which was in Hindi. Naturally, expectations are high with Ladies and Gentleman.

“The story is about today’s GenX and their attitude towards life,” says the director who started his career as a script writer with Pappan Priyapetta Pappan. “They may be aggressive in their approach, but they lack the endurance and resilience seen in the older generation. My film seeks to highlight this positive trait through the protagonist Chandra Bose, played by Mohanlal.”

In the story, Chandra Bose gets involved in the lives of young IT professionals and changes them.

While Meera Jasmine plays Mohanlal’s wife in the story, there are three more heroines: Mamta Mohandas, Padmapriya and Meera Kurien.

Despite working with Mohanlal for 20 years, he says he found the actor’s enthusiasm was still the same, and he was as excited as a new star.

“While he has matured since I last worked with him, his simplicity has not changed and that is Mohanlal’s strength,” he added.

Jasmine, he says, is one of the best actresses in the industry.

A film fanatic, Siddique remembers how he never missed the first show every Friday growing up. He was in his first year of college when he joined as a clerk in a management school in Ernakulam, Kerala. Four years later, he quit work for a career in films as script writer.

“After Pappan Priyapetta Pappan was a flop, I stopped writing,” he recalls.

Siddique was spotted by director Fazil along with his former co-writer Lal (not the star of the film) during a mimicry show on stage. He considers Fazil his guru and after learning the nuances of direction, the duo Siddique-Lal opened their innings with Ramji Rao Speaking, a comedy that was a success.

Comedy is his forte and he draws his spark for his films from situations in life.

“My father and I are known in the family for our sense of humour,” reveals Siddique, whose other film, Godfather, is another successful humorous story. The heroes of his stories are simple souls with a macho air yet they endear themselves to the audience with their innocence.”

He says his Bollywood debut, the hugely successful Bodyguard, was a memorable one.

“The success lay in the script and apt casting with Salman Khan,” he says.