Real Guna Cave or set? Manjummel Boys production designer Ajayan Chalissery spills the beans

'Manjummel Boys', directed by Chidambaram, has opened to positive reviews in Kerala. While people praised the film's direction, what worked mostly was the production design of the film. Ever since the film’s release, people have been curious to know whether the film was shot in the 900-foot-deep Guna Cave. The film’s production designer, Ajayan Chalissery, spilt the beans regarding the shoot in an interview with Manorama Online.

According to him, a replica of the Guna cave was set up in an abandoned godown in Perumbavoor. “The Guna Cave is a highly restricted area, and the Forest Department was even hesitant to permit us to visit the place for reference. After a lot of persuasion, we finally got the approval to venture down the Guna Cave. The place is very unsafe. There is a scene in the movie where a lot of branches and other debris accumulate along with water. This is how the situation is there. We can’t be sure. We were given permission to go down 80 feet into the cave. We took photos of the cave to understand the texture and detailing. We also had to take the right measurements to ensure the cave looks real,” he said.

According to him, they initially tried to scour the internet for images of the Guna Cave. “However, none of them were good quality pics or videos. We could not even use the video from the movie ‘Gunaa’ due to the low quality, so it was important we went there to get the idea of how deep and dark and mesmerizing the cave is,” he said. Ajayan said the team initially travelled to Hyderabad hoping to find a studio to build a set for the Guna cave. “None of the studios had the facility to show the underground space. We needed to dig another 17 feet below to show the depth at which Subhash falls. That was not possible in any of the studios.” That is how the team zeroed in on a godown in Perumbavoor. “It took us nearly 3 months. To build the rock, we used fibre that we sourced from various locations in Kodaikanal. That is why you feel it is so original,” he said. He added that many people, including filmmakers like Siddique, arrived at the set of Manjummel Boys and were pleasantly surprised to learn about the magnitude and scale of the set.