Asif Ali on Kuttavum Shikshayum: I don’t think any Malayalam film has been shot so authentically

It has been a stop-start process for the team of Rajeev Ravi’s Kuttavum Shikshayum. The cast and crew were in the middle of shooting the film in Jaipur when the pandemic hit and they were forced to return to Kerala just before the lockdown was enforced. Earlier this year, they once again went back to Rajasthan to finish the film and its lead actor Asif Ali says that the film’s visuals will reflect the effort of the team, especially its director Rajeev Ravi. 

Talking to us about Kuttavum Shikshayum, Asif said, “For all the other films I have worked in, I ensure that I got the entire script and dialogues beforehand, so I can go to the sets prepared. But what Rajeevettan gave me was a character and he would shoot the scene after discussing it with me. If I wasn’t convinced, he wouldn’t shoot it. The way he makes a film too is very different.”

The film, which also has Sunny Wayne, Sharaf U Dheen, Alencier Ley and Senthil Krishna, has Asif playing a cop, who tracks criminals all the way from Idukki in Kerala to a village in Rajasthan. 

The shoot of the movie, much like Rajeev’s previous films, involved realistic visuals and was done with a limited crew. “Somedays, when we are asleep in the hotel, he would wake us up and ask, ‘How long does it take you to get ready? Let’s film a scene’. That’s how he shoots the film. We didn’t have a huge crew; it was just 20 of us who went to Rajasthan to shoot the movie,” says Asif. 

The Bollywood contacts of Rajeev, who has also worked as cinematographer in movies such as Gangs of Wasseypur, Udta Punjab and Bell Bottom, also helped with the access to the areas in Rajasthan where they wanted to film, Asif tells us. 

“It’s based on police officer Sibi Thomas’ service story. I don’t think any other Malayalam film has been shot as authentically as this,” the actor explains. 

The film is co-written by Sibi, who had also played a cop in Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, and Sreejith Divakaran. The release date of the movie was initially set for July 2021 but it has been postponed. Rajeev’s Thuramukham, which has Nivin Pauly, Indrajith and Nimisha Sajayan, is yet to get a new release date. The period drama was earlier set for a May 2021 release.