I caught every Shaji Kailas movie in the theatre, so it’s a thrill to work in Jagan’s debut: Siju Wilson

Shaji Kailas’s police and political dramas of the 90s, in a way, were the original massy entertainer and Siju Wilson remembers how he would excitedly catch them in theatres as a college student. The actor, who was lauded for his role as Velayudha Panicker in Vinayan’s historical film Pathonpatham Noottandu, is now thrilled to play an officer investigating a murder in Jagan Shaji Kailas’s directorial debut. S Sanjeev, who wrote Kunchacko Boban-Arvind Swamy movie Ottu, is the screenplay writer.

“We really used to celebrate while watching Shaji Kailas movies in theatres, clapping and whistling and I think I’ve watch every one of them on the big screen. So there is a thrill about working with his son. But also the character is interesting; there is an arc. There are several police characters and I was waiting for a good one,” says Siju.

The actor says that he has not felt inclined to compare the styles of father and son. “Jagan has his own identity. Though he is not the writer, he had narrated the story to me and he had great clarity while doing so. It showed how confident he was in the story, which also encouraged me to say yes to the project,” he says.

Shaji Kailas films have later come under criticism for the misogyny in them, but Siju says that everyone in the industry is aware that that sort of sentiment does not go down well anymore. “The women characters have equal importance and standing in the movie. Also, the lead male-female relationship is not romantic, but a neutral one. It has been well sketched,” he says.

“I play a SI, who had just joined on probation. The investigation is the ‘mass’ element in this, not the hero. The film holds the suspense till the climax.