Reliving the Kerala floods through Jayaraj's movie

As another monsoon hits Kerala shores, Malayalis will probably welcome the rains with some trepidation. And award-winning filmmaker Jayaraj has drawn from the stories and the experiences etched vividly in our minds from last year, to portray nature’s fury in the seventh film of his Navarasa series,

Roudram 2018

.
The film, featuring Renji Panicker and

KPSC Leela

in the lead roles, tells the story of an aged couple who were isolated in their home during the Kerala floods. “This is based on a real-life incident in Pandanad, in Chengannur, of an elderly couple, who are my friend’s parents. I too tried to get some news about them with no success for about six days. The old man has dementia and the couple was waiting on the rooftop during this time. The story is told from their perspective,” says Jayaraj.
The film also features Binu Pappu and Jayaraj’s wife, Sabitha. “In the navarasa character, this film looks at nature’s fury,” says Jayaraj, who is set to move on to shringaram and hasyam, the last two emotions in the series.
His National Award-winning

Bhayanakam

, which conveyed the terror of war, also won him the best scriptwriter award and the best actor award for Renji Panicker, at the 18th Edition of Imagine India International Film Festival in Madrid, in May.