Director Jis Joy juggles multiple roles with ease. Apart from being the captain of the ship, he is also a writer, lyricist and dubbing artist.
He began his career as a TV anchor and swiftly moved to dubbing. He has dubbed for Telugu superstar Allu Arjun in at least 25 films or more apart from lending his voice to other Malayalam and Tamil actors.
Jis debuted as a director with the Malayalam film ‘Bicycle Thieves’. Known to rope in new faces and experiment with different subjects, Jis believes that films work well only when the audience is offered something new.
In his latest Malayalam film ‘Mohan Kumar Fans’, which recently released on Amazon Prime Video, Jis delves into world of the film industry that’s known for worshiping its stars. The film is a light-hearted story about a yesteryear actor’s comeback film.
What inspired you to make the movie?
The entry of big stars always throws the existing actors out of work. The market then begins to lean towards casting only big actors, who bring in the popularity for the movie and also rake in the money. The story traces the real life happenings that unfold in an actor’s life, who was popular in his time, but lost meaty roles to the big stars. We have also shown why awards shouldn’t be the only criteria to measure the talent of an actor.
Don’t awards matter?
Yes, they do but awards aren’t everything. The movie looks at how actor Siddique, who plays Mohan Kumar, has a film release after five or six years. But the movie goes out of the theatre even before it gathers steam. This is what most actors, who work in meaningful films, experience at some point in their careers. Mohan Kumar’s friends then convince him to apply for a national award. What follows shows how a handful of good friends can keep you in high spirits in tough times.
The film also takes a dig at new generation actors...
Yes. The film, through the character of Agosh Menon, looks at how young stars are carried away by the attention that they get after working in just four or five films. They have no exposure to the outside world and go by what a handful of people tell them.
They let the likes on social media rule their emotions and decide their careers. The film focuses on the lives of an aspiring musician (played by Kunchacko Boban), a producer (Mukesh) who is in deep debt and actor Mohan Kumar, who struggles to regain his lost glory. These are all real stories.
What kind of films click with the audience today?
Films with fresh and unpredictable plots work well with the audience. Directors and writers must spend time developing the script. Bringing in suspense, twists and turns, and offering new insights to tried-and-tested formulae do the trick. OTT has thrown up new challenges for filmmakers. Films like ‘Joji’, ‘C U Soon’ and ‘Mandela’ have adapted to the new format. Filmmakers should start thinking ahead.
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