Kottayam Kunjachan (1990)

Interesting facts

Kottayam Kunjachan is a 1990 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film directed by T. S. Suresh Babu and written by Dennis Joseph, loosely based on a novel titled "Veli" by Muttathu Varkey. It stars Mammootty in the title role as Kunjachan, with Ranjini, Innocent, KPAC Lalitha, Sukumaran, Babu Antony, and Prathapachandran appearing in supporting roles. Produced by M. Mani, the plot was set in the Kottayam-Catholic backdrop in Kerala, with characters speaking the native Kottayam dialect. The film and its title character Kunjachan went on to achieve cult status in the years following its release.

Production

The screenplay was loosely based on a novel titled 'Veli' written by Muttathu Varkey. The protagonist character Kunjachan, played by Mammootty, was adapted from the antagonist character of the same name in the novel. It was Muttathu Varkey's literary style that inspired the makers to feature the Kottayam accent in the movie. Varkey wrote his novel in a complete regional dialect.

As a person who hails from Ettumanoor village of Kottayam district, screenwriter Dennis Joseph felt writing dialogues for characters easy and familiar to his native style. According to Joseph, the five years long graduate education at Deva Matha College, Kuravilangad and the hostel life of there also helped him to form the dialogues more truthfully.

Mammootty whose native place also belongs to the Kottayam district could be brought in the accent with perfection. Mammootty said, "I am from the northern edge of Kottayam. Therefore, the accent has never influenced me, but I have absorbed it." Mammootty received the whole script from Dennis Joseph before the filming began.

Dennis Joseph, being busy with other projects, never visited the set during filming; however, to help the director and associates understand the various characters' accent and slang properly, Joseph took 3 days and 10 audio cassettes to record the entire screenplay in his voice. These cassettes were used a reference during the entirety of the filming schedule, backed with guidance from Mammootty.

Though the plot is based on Kottayam, the producer M. Mani wanted to shoot the film in Thiruvananthapuram. The makers found the village Amboori, near Neyyattinkara in Thiruvananthapuram district. The place was exactly look-alike a village in Kottayam with the features resembling such as rubber and black pepper plantations, big churches, unpaved roads, etc. The place was shot as 'Odaangara', the fictional village in the film.

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