Kayamkulam Kochunni location hunt: A tale in itself

Kayamkulam Kochunni, starring youth sensation Nivin Pauly, is one of the most anticipated movies this year. Its recently released trailer has already become a super hit on social media. The movie wraps history, legend, and fiction and hence the location plays a major role in making the milieu a convincing one. The events takes place in early nineteenth century. So cobblestone ways, narrow streets and roads, and areas which look meagerly populate was recreated on the sets of Kayamkulam Kochunni. Lots of animals and birds too were used on the sets for originality.

Location hunt

Director Rosshan Andrrews and his team had spent almost three months hunting for suitable locations. The crew had done extensive period research before venturing out to look for locations. This obviously was a strenuous task for the film-maker. The crew had visited many places around Kayamkulam where Kochunni lived and also places like Vavvakavu, Evoor, and Valia Veetil Peedika. Imagination

Rosshan prepared a 'mental sketch' of the place, imagining how it may have looked 150 years ago. He then discussed his ideas with the art director who, in turn, prepared some sketches on paper. With those sketches in hand, the director, associate director Dinesh Menon and production designer Sunil Babu took off to Sri Lanka looking for apt locations on the island nation.

The crew travelled around Sri Lanka for a week and found few locations. However, they decided to film only the climax part there in view of budgetary constraints. Back home, the crew divided into three groups and went around in search of appropriate locations to film the major portions of the movie.

Based on their research, it was decided that locations around Uduppi and Mangalore were suited for the film. Kadaba was chosen to portray Vavvakavu in the movie which has forest as an importation location. The crew decided about the color tones which would match the locations which were zeroed in. Besides, decisions were taken about the structure of the village and kalari (training center) which have prominence in the narrative. The crew also resorted to Aithihyamala, the ancient text which mentions about Kayamkulam Kochunni and his pursuits, to create the various on-set properties. After each day’s shoot, the crew, including the director, cinematographer and costume designer would meticulously plan the next day’s filming to ensure perfection in every scene.

In Sri Lanka, the crew even shot at a place which was infested with crocodiles. They decided to shoot there with all the safety precautions as they were certain that they won’t be able find a unique location like that anywhere else. Huge crowds including schoolchildren turned up at the various shooting locations to watch the filming of the movie.

Anyways, movie lovers are eagerly waiting for this visual spectacle to hit the screens.