EXCLUSIVE: Kuruthi Director Manu Warrier: The Scale Of The Film Got Elevated After Prithviraj Came On Board

Kuruthi, the Prithviraj Sukumaran-Roshan Mathew starrer that is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, has been receiving exceptional reviews from the audiences. The movie, which has been considered as a path-breaking attempt, has already earned the OTT blockbuster tag. Kuruthi, which marked the Malayalam directorial debut of Manu Warrier, is the first independent production venture of Prithviraj Sukumaran's home banner, Prithviraj Production.

In an EXCLUSIVE chat with Filmibeat, director Manu Warrier, who made a fantastic directorial debut with Kuruthi, opened up about his journey.

Excerpts from the chat:

EXCLUSIVE: Kuruthi Director Manu Warrier: The Scale Of The Film Got Elevated After Prithviraj Came On Board

1. Kuruthi is receiving excellent reviews from the audience. Have you expected success of this magnitude?

Well, we thought we would get some positive responses. But this has been great. My phone hasn't rested since the day Kuruthi was released. I have been consistently getting good reviews and feedbacks and messages. So, it has been phenomenal, the feedback has been so great.

2. How does it feel to be a part of the Malayalam film industry?

I'm really happy and thriller. You get to make a film like this with a great production house like Prithviraj Productions - I feel very privileged to get this kind of welcome and positioning in this industry. I'm more than happy - there are no words to express this feeling.

3. Kuruthi deals with a very relevant yet sensitive premise. What motivated you to make your Malayalam debut with such a project?

I remember reading this script that Anish Pallyal had sent me. This is the climate we are all living in, there is this climate of inherent hatred within all of us. When a script speaks about it very subtly and yet as it ends it is quite clear that what it is trying to say. It really connected with me and it kind of moved me. And I felt, yes, this is the story I want to say. This is the story that I want to go out and try to make. It connected to me on a deep level and as artists, we are all sensitive, and that sensitivity kind of came through in that script. That is where it kind of got me excited.

4. How did Prithviraj Sukumaran become a part of Kuruthi?

I had messaged him initially, and then I emailed him the synopsis. And he was very kind and prompt with it, and he quickly read it. Then he got in touch with me and said that he read it and really liked it and he would like to produce it. And I was like 'Wow,' there were no more questions. I said let's go for it.

Then sometime around September-October 2020, I came down and we started talking about it. It all started after Prithviraj read the script and he was very clear that he wants to produce it - that's how it all began.

EXCLUSIVE: Kuruthi Director Manu Warrier: The Scale Of The Film Got Elevated After Prithviraj Came On Board

5. Apart from producing the film, Prithviraj Sukumaran has also choreographed the action sequences of Kuruthi. Can you please share his contributions to the project?

The original draft of Kuruthi was a little bit different, and we were thinking of it on a more independent scale. When you have an actor like Prithviraj coming on board, the scale and magnitude of the film changes to a larger space. Then we had to incorporate more drama, more action scenes, and stuff like that. To be very fair, my expertise is not very strong on the action bit and all that. And that's where Prithviraj's expertise helped a lot.

From the draft that we send him, to the draft that you see as the film today, a lot of it happened because we were able to get Prithviraj's investments in many levels - from a creative level to the production level. One of the biggest things that happened to this film, the mainstream approach you see, happened because of Prithvi. There were a lot of discussions and debates on how to go about it - he used to joke about us (Anish and I) saying you guys are 'arty' filmmakers. We wouldn't call it arty - the idea was not to make it an art film. But we weren't thinking of the scale. The scale that came through was because of Prithvi.

As you said - the fights were scaled up. We wrote the fights in a more restrained manner. But when Prithvi came on board, we didn't have to restrain ourselves, we didn't have any production limitations as filmmakers. We could take it to the next level, and that is where Prithvi's help came on board - the film got elevated.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Roshan Mathew: Kuruthi Was A Very Rewarding Experience For Me!EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Roshan Mathew: Kuruthi Was A Very Rewarding Experience For Me!

6. Kuruthi has an ensemble star cast from senior actor Mamukoya to newcomer Sagar. How does it feel working with such a great bunch of talents?

These actors are amazing people on sets. They come with such a great fan base and all, but on set, they were really fun people to work with. They were so collaborative in nature and they were all submitting to the process of filmmaking. It was a big, big humbling experience overall. To see such a senior actor gel so easily into the process. And then you have people like Roshan Mathew, Shine Tom Chacko, and Srinda who sort of adding their own pitch to their roles. And there is Prithvi who sort of acts as a bouncing board to everybody. Because it was a great collaborative process, it felt like a great learning experience.

Kuruthi Review: This Prithviraj Starrer Is A Masterpiece That Talks Loud And Clear About Communal DivideKuruthi Review: This Prithviraj Starrer Is A Masterpiece That Talks Loud And Clear About Communal Divide

7. Can you please elaborate on your journey as a writer and filmmaker?

I started 12 years back. I wanted to make films and realised in a hard way that it is not easy. I was writing for a lot of people. But the thing with writing is, you write for a lot of projects, but not all of them see the light of the day. I worked with a lot of directors. But the thing that actually came out was the stuff I wrote for Anurag Kashyap. Then I had other projects that are still lined up, I hope that it's going to come up soon.

But the one that's always out there was with Anurag Kashyap, that was Yuddh series which had Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role. Then I did my feature film Coffee Bloom, which had Arjun Mathur in the lead role. After that, I was again writing for some time till the script of Kuruthi came by.

8. How did you collaborate with writer Anish Pallyal?

EXCLUSIVE: Kuruthi Director Manu Warrier: The Scale Of The Film Got Elevated After Prithviraj Came On Board

I have been writing with Anish for the last 10 years - for multiple scripts. But this is the script that Anish wrote on his own. And he had sent it to me. So, we have had a collaboration going on over the past 10 years, that's the journey so far.

9. Kuruthi is now being considered a very important film and has paved way for discussions on social media. What is your take on that?

We always knew that there will be a certain amount of discussion around the film. So that did not take us by surprise. We were very clear that we will not take any sides, we took a very objective viewpoint. And as long as what the film is trying to say goes out, I think we are in a safe place. We are thrilled that these discussions are happening, they need to happen.

10. Do you think getting an Amazon Prime Video release contributed to the global exposure of Kuruthi?

100 percent. As I said, my phone hasn't rested from the day of its release. The people overall the world was able to watch it on the same day, which is a great thing. Even if you want to rewatch it, the film is right there on your device, which is something you can never do with the theatres. The OTT release was sort of the perfect thing that happened to Kuruthi. Even though it was not initially planned, it eventually happened, and it is a great thing.

11. Are you planning to don the director's hat again, soon?

I'm developing a few ideas, and but I've decided to not jump on the next thing right away. As soon as it is finalised, I would speak about it.

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