20 TIME OUT The Gulf Today / Thursday, September 13, 2007
HITTING IT OFF TOGETHER
PRITHVIRAJ AND NAVYA NAIR COME TOGETHER AGAIN IN MADHUPAL’S DIRECTORIAL DEBUT THALAPAAVU, WRITES KK MOIDU
After serving the film
industry for nearly oneand-
a-half decades as
assistant director and
actor, Madhupal, a popular
face on the silver screen and television,
is making his maiden directorial
venture with Thalapaavu.
Madhupal, armed with a post
graduate degree in commerce and a
course in journalism, joined the industry
as an associate director. He is a
writer and has authored a collection
of short stories and a couple of books
like Ee Jeevitham Jeevichu
Theerkunnathu, Hebrewil Oru
Premalekhanam etc. He tried his luck
at script-writing was not successful.
Madhupal started writing from his
schooldays and was penning stories
at the age of 10 for children’s magazines
Poombatta and Balayugam.
His association with cinema started
when he was a child. His father, an
employee of the Kerala State
Electricity Board, was also running a
theatre in Palakkad. That gave him the
opportunity to watch films showing
in the theatre and his interest for films
begun.
After completing his education,
Madhupal started his career as a journalist
in Mathrubhoomi and India
Today and he also worked in a bank.
But his fascination for films attracted
him into the film industry. He worked
in many projects as an associate director
and scriptwriter, but his earlier
works like the Mohanlal-starrer
Australia and Yamanam, directed by
Bharath Gopi, were not released.
Madhupal also worked as an assistant
for eminent director Rajeev
Anchal in Butterflies, Guru,
Kashmeeram etc. His association with
Rajeev Anchal was a turning point in
his career. He acted in Kashmeeram
in which he played a negative role.
After that, he appeared in character
and villain roles in many films.
Madhupal also worked as an assistant
director for the film Made in
USA, that had Madhavan in the lead
and was picturised in the United
States. He also played the role of
Violin Johny in the film. He replaced
an NRI Sibi David for that role due to
an unavoidable circumstance.
Madhupal was noticed on the
small screen and achieved success not
only as an actor but also as a director.
He fetched the Critics Award for the
second best actor for his role as Hari
in Kaazhcha. It was a series of MT
Kathakal and was aired on Amritha
TV. Madhupal won the critics award
for Akasathe Paravakal aired on
Kairali TV. He also worked as an
assistant to Jude Attipetty for the serial
Shararanthal.
He also acted and directed around
a dozen serials and did few documentaries
for government departments.
Madhupal writes for magazines
and also finds time for social activities.
He was engaged in several projects
to help the victims of the tsunami
and is associated with Shanthigiri
Ashram at Pothencode near
Thiruvananthapuram.
As an actor, Madhupal continues
his presence in recently released films
like Sooryan, Nadiya Kollappetta
Rathri, Detective etc. Although he is
playing negative roles, he was rarely
cast as the foremost villain. His roles
were limited to an assistant of the primary
villain or a gang leader in many
films. His distinguished looks and
memorable performances made him
a sought-after actor in character and
villain roles.
Now, Madhupal finally takes up
the job of directing a movie. His
Thalapaavu is noticed by the reunion
of Prithviraj and Navya Nair. The
female lead of the film, Navya Nair,
appeared earlier as the love interest of
Prithviraj in his debut film
Nandhanam. Though the movie was
a superhit and performed well at the
box office, Navya hogged the limelight
and even won the State Award
for Best Actress for her portrayal of
the film’s Cindrella-like character,
Balamani.
After doing few Malayalam films,
unlike other Malayalam heroines like
Nayanthara, Meera Jasmine, Bhavana
etc., Navya turned her attention to the
Tamil film industry. Early in her
career she paired opposite senior
director-cum-actor Cheran in
Mayakannadi. She gave up many
offers from Malayalam for
Mayakannadi and Aadum Koothu
with TVChandran. But both the films
fell below expectations and bombed
at the box office.
Her forthcoming Tamil film is Sila
Nerangalil. The movie is the directorial
debut of popular Malayalam
director Jayaraj, a four-time winner of
the National Awards. Vincent
Ashokan, the villain of Pokkiri and
Aalwar, is her male lead in the film
which is a thriller penned by R Raj.
Navya’s passion for meaty, art
ventures pulled her career back a little.
By realising the loss, she is now
working in commercial films and reestablished
herself in Malayalam
films with two Onam releases. She
paired opposite Mohanlal in Alibhai
and in Kichamani MBA her hero was
Suresh Gopi.
Navya’s forthcoming Malayalam
film SMS will be directed by Surjulan
of Madamma fame. Bala is the hero
of the film and it is his second film
with Navya. Earlier, they paired in
Kalabham, which failed to attract the
crowds at the box office. Mukesh will
play a pivotal role in SMS. The film
is a suspense thriller with an equal
dose of comedy.
Navya also has a couple of other
projects in her kitty. She pins her hope
on Thalapaavu opposite Prithviraj.
Prithviraj too won the hearts of
filmgoers as Manu in Nandanam and
soon became a favourite in the industry.
His pairing with Navya Nair was
perfect and many expect them to be a
hit pair in the future. But the pairing
was repeated only in Vellithira directed
by Bhadran. Vellithira didn’t do
well at the box office unlike other
Bhadran films.
Although Prithviraj got ample
opportunities to handle different types
of characters in the beginning of his
career, his movies only did moderate
business at the box office.
When weighty roles dried up on
the home turf he made his Tamil
debut in veteran cinematographer KV
Anand’s directorial debut Kana
Kandain. He portrayed a different
kind of villain in the film. The success
of the film earned him heroic roles in
Tamil films and he became a favourite
for Tamil audience.
Prithviraj repeated his success in
Malayalam after the surprise victory
of Classmates, a campus love story
directed by Lal Jose. He also won the
State Best Actor Award for the film
Vasthavam directed by Padmakumar.
Although Prithviraj is busy in
Tamil, he is doing Malayalam films.
His forthcoming Chocolate directed
by Shafi is ready to hit the screen. In
another upcoming project Boss,
directed by Padmakumar, his heroine
is Meera Jasmine and the film is
scripted by AK Sajan. Sai Kumar,
Jagathy, Lalu Alex and Manoj K.
Jayan are doing other important characters
of the film. Chandrakumar produces
the film under his banner
Malavika Productions.
Kangaroo directed by Raj Babu, is
another forthcoming Malayalam film
of Prithviraj. The movie scripted by J
Pallasserry also stars Jayasoorya,
Jagathy Sreekumar, Harishree
Ashokan, Suraj Venjaramoodu and
Salim Kumar.
Prithviraj films are hits in Tamil
but he failed to attract crowds on his
home turf. His recently released
movies Khaki and Veeralippattu were
well made films, but the lukewarm
response of the audience only added
two more flops to his career.
Navya Nair is going through a lean
patch in her career after her two big
releases Mayakannadi and Aadum
Koothu bombed at the box office. Her
recently released films also didn’t do
anything good for her career.
Both Prithviraj and Navya hope
that Thalapaavu will work in their
favour. Other important roles of the
film will be played by Jagathy
Sreekumar, Lal and Kalabhavan
Mani.
The film, scripted by Babu
Janardhanan, will start rolling at the
end of the month. Thalapaavu is produced
by Tamil actor Mohanraj under
the banner of Civic Films. According
to reports, ONV Kurup will pen the
songs of the film and it will be composed
by the youngster’s favourite
musician Alex Paul.
As a director, Madhupal can contribute
a lot to the directorial department
— not only for Thalapaavu—
but also for the film industry. His
experience in most of the departments
of film-making will help him a lot.
This may be one of the reasons why
he should concentrate more on being
a director.
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