‘I’d have to shell Rs 25 lakh more to get another actor’ – Ohh Cinderella’s Anoop Menon on working within limits

Malayalam actor-director Anoop Menon’s films have enjoyed a niche audience, which he says he has been trying to expand over the years with films like Ente Mezhuthiri Athazhangal, King Fish and Padma. His upcoming movie Ohh Cinderella, which is helmed by Renolze Rehman and marks the acting debut of Bigg Boss Malayalam winner Dilsha Prasannan, is also one of his most entertaining films recently, says the actor, in an exclusive conversation with OTTplay.

Anoop tells us about the perks of producing the films he has written for, why it’s not possible to provide a theatrical experience for every movie and more.

Now, when the audience buys a ticket for a film backed by Anoop Menon, they know what they will be getting. Does that let you push the envelope in terms of the content?

More than pushing the envelope, I think it’s more about me trying to have a hold over what I want to do. I am not a highly successful actor, director or writer. What I can do is try to correct the mistakes that I have made while making the content; so, it’s a journey from average to above average to excellent. And excellence is not just limited to the content.

Also read: Anoop Menon explains why Phoenix will work better than a lot of other recent dark thrillers 

People now say they want a theatrical experience from films and for that we have to shell out money. If you want to hear the precise audio, you will have to invest 10 times more than what you do for a normal movie; it’s the same for DI out and art. So, the attempt is to win over by the thought behind the content, within our limited resources. When we reach a point, it might work out.

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Having said all this, people can always say that it would have been better if another actor would have played that role. Now, I can’t say that to get that actor onboard, I would have had to shell out Rs 25 lakh more. So, I am trying to make it work with what I have.

The teasers of Ohh Cinderella also have presented a lot of such inconvenient truths about the film industry. When you are producing the film also, does it give you more freedom to express yourself?

The movie is not about the reviewers or the industry, as you see in the teasers. It’s something entirely different. Now, when I am trying to make a movie, I don’t see whether its scenes will work or not. There are things that I want to say. For instance, Padma is about what happens when a divorce specialist, who doles out advice to everybody, stumbles in his own relationship. I wanted to bring about the greater good in a person through the film.

Also, when I am doing a film like Padma, I don’t have to convince anyone else because I am the producer. But do you think I would get a producer, if I pitched a film of that budget with Surabhi Lakshmi and myself as the lead pair?

What can you tell us about the film?

Though it looks like a romantic film, it’s not. Ohh Cinderella is again about relationships. I have tried to do something that is different from my usual trajectory. I have also tried to make it entertaining. For instance, there aren’t moments like in Padma, where the couple separate, that would make some husbands and wives cringe. It’s a happy-go-lucky movie, addressing a very serious issue. Somebody who had watched the film told me it’s my first male-centric movie.

Are you also actively scripting other projects?

I am doing a film set in Pattambi, which has a rural set-up and is something that I haven’t done before. Beautiful 2 will only happen only in October-November 2024 because we need that climate. There’s also Trivandrum Lodge 2 and Naalpathukaarante Irupathukaari.

Also read: Anoop Menon reveals Jayasurya will be replaced in Beautiful 2, fans express disappointment