Mathukutty: ‘Most of us know a Kunjeldho’

The Malayalam film, ‘Kunjeldho’, starring Asif Ali, directed by debutant Mathukutty is a campus film

Popular RJ-turned-director Mathukutty aka Arun Mathew, laughs when he recalls an incident he had shared with director-scenarist Vineeth Sreenivasan. The filmmaker burst into laughter. Vineeth felt there was a seed of a story in it and told Mathukutty to turn it into a script.

Vineeth was then working on his third film Thira (2013). By the time he was shooting for Kunjiramayanam (2015) [as the lead actor], Mathukutty had his script ready. Vineeth gave him a few suggestions and he was supposed to direct the film. But as he was already working on several projects, he suggested that Mathukutty direct the film he had nurtured for so long.

“That was how Kunjeldho became my first directorial venture,” says Mathukutty. “It is a film about emotional growth, how boys become men, how we change as we move through our late teens and twenties. There are several elements in the film that I have borrowed from my college years. It is a feel-good campus film infused with humour.”