Sarath Appani debuts as director to survive the lockdown impact

Exhausted savings, medical bills and lack of work have been pushing not just the common people, but also celebs into an unprecedented money crunch, and many have been vocal about it.

Actor Sarath Appani, who has starred in renowned films like

Angamaly Diaries

, Velipadinte Pusthakam and more is all set to debut as a filmmaker and his reason is no different. Sarath, whose short movie series Monica will release in a few days on YouTube, features his wife

Reshma

in the starring role with him. The film’s story is also by the actor, who has penned a

Malayalam

rap song for it, as well.

Sarath says, “I like to direct and have helmed many plays in the past, but my reason to venture into it now is for survival. Film shoots have been minimal and so, there is no steady work or income. It is difficult to sail through this. That’s why, a few months ago, I decided to do something of my own. My short movie series is a slapstick comedy and the title role is essayed by my wife Reshma, who is also a dancer.” The script and dialogues for the series are by actor-writer Manu S Plavila.

Sarath tells us about his title character, “Monica lives in a fantasy world of her own. Her original name is Molly, though people call her Monica. She is given a semi-modern look in the film.” Sarath also plays a character, Donny, who is a lazy coward, he says. “But, he is quite devious and secretive as well,” he explains. The film also has Angamaly Diaries fame Sinoj Varghese playing the role of African Pappachan, newbie Shynas as Fort Kochi native Poli Marty, scriptwriter Manu and art director-actor Kripesh playing two robbers.

Most of the series was shot in Sarath’s house, except for one episode set in Canada, Sarath reveals. “We had many limitations regarding the setting and had to manage our kids too alongside working, but somehow, we pushed ourselves to do it all,” he says.

So, is the actor all set to venture seriously into direction? “I like writing and direction, but as someone who has studied acting, what I love the best is playing characters, at the moment” says the actor, who has three Tamil films coming up, including a Sasikumar-starrer in which he is playing the villain. His Vinod Guruvayoor directorial Mission C is also expected to be out soon.