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Fresh look: Jayaraj, left, has again focussed on the youth. The film stars newcomers Govind, Harshan, Sudhir, Shafeeq and Devipriya.

Jayaraj’s ‘Of the People,’ which releases today, is the new sequel to his trendsetting ‘4 The People.’ The director had made waves when the first in the series, ‘4 the People,’ starring all newcomers, turned out to be a super hit in 2004 in Kerala. Its dubbed versions in Tamil and Telugu did big business and made him a brand.

Who can forget the peppy number ‘Lajjavathiye…’? A new generation of young audiences grew up on the mesmerising music of Jassie Gift. The stars of the film Sunil alias Narain, Bharath and Gopika turned big stars in Tamil, while Arun got noticed.

Critics point out that ‘4 the People,’ about a group of young vigilantes trying to fight injustice, was a mishmash of various Hollywood and Kollywood films. But the notable point is that Jayaraj brought in a whiff of freshness and a difference in filmmaking, at a time when Malayalam cinema was seeped in crass commercialism. He also brought in new talent and technical excellence on a shoe-string budget.

The cameraman of ‘4 the People,’ R.D. Rajasekhar, became a star in all big South Indian films. His decision to follow Jayaraj’s advice to use wide angle lens and a handheld camera to get the “youthful look” for the film became a part of the manual of next-generation cameramen. However, when Jayaraj half-heartedly tried to rework the magic in ‘By the People,’ it backfired and the film was a marketing disaster. Now he is back with what he thinks would be the last in the series –‘Of the People.’

Says Jayaraj: ‘“Of the People’ is going to be a daringly different film. It is three years since I did ‘4 the People.’ Things have, since then, changed vastly. A new generation with different aspirations is growing up, but not much has changed on the political scenario except that a new government is ruling. There is still social injustice, corruption and unrest all around, especially on the campuses. But today’s youth are running after IT and material gains as globalisation is taking its toll in Kerala.”

He has also touched upon recent political happenings in Kerala such as the Munnar evictions, land-grabbing mafia, corruption in self-financing colleges and so on. And the buzz is that he has romanticised Che Guevara in ‘Of the People.’

Says Jayaraj: “Yes, my protagonists are dressed like Che Guevara when they go on a mission. He is seen as an authentic fighter for oppressed people around the globe. Che has been transformed into an icon by today’s youth who wear T-Shirts with his image and have his posters in their rooms.”

Jayaraj is once again focussing on the youth and the basic format of the film will be the same. It has newcomers like Govind, Harshan (a former Mr. India), Sudhir, Shafeeq, a new girl from Kannur, Devipriya. Jayaraj’s wife, Sabitha, is also doing a cameo in the film. Added to that are his trusted regulars like Arun, Arjun and Padmakumar.

He is also introducing newcomers behind the scene – script is by Sreekumar Sreyas and art is by Pradeep Padmanabhan. Tanu Balak cranks the camera and Vinu Thomas scores the music.

Adds Jayaraj: “I’m comfortable working with newcomers who can be moulded and at the end of the day I get better results from them.” Jayaraj is turning a lyricist with the film, which has five peppy songs (four are written by Kaithapuram). The songs have been filmed a la music videos in exotic locations in Kerala by Tanu Balak who has directed many music album videos.

Asks Jayaraj: “Why is it that Tamil and Telugu dubbed films have taken Kerala by storm? It is only because of the way the songs are picturised and the glossy packaging. Similarly we are trying something that will attract our youth.”

Jayaraj has made the film in 35 days on a budget of Rs 1.50 crore. The film is being aggressively marketed by the oldest film distributors in Kerala, Central Pictures, Kottayam.

Says Alex George of Central Pictures: “The only way to stop the tidal wave of Telugu and Tamil films is to make films like ‘Of the People’ on a limited budget to bring back our youth audiences.”

Meanwhile January will see four other films based on recent happenings in Kerala politics.

The films are Mammootty’s police story ‘Rowdram,’ directed by Renji Panikkar, Mohanlal’s Thulasidas-directed ‘College Kumaran’ on campus issues, Suresh Gopi turning into an angry ‘Collector’ who fights the land mafia in the Anil Menon-directed film, and Kalabhavan Mani’s ‘Kerala Police,’ directed by Chandrasekharan, on police-mafia nexus.

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