“We can all relate to the boys,” says Chidambaram, director of Manjummel Boys (2024). It’s raining love for the Malayalam survival drama — both within the narrative and from the audience — which chronicles the harrowing experience of a gang of friends who visit the Guna Caves in Kodaikanal in 2006. The film, inspired by real events, features Sreenath Bhasi, Soubin Shahir, Deepak Parambol, Ganapathy, Khalid Rahman, Balu Varghese, Chandu Salimkumar and Arun Kurian among others as the gang of friends. The director says, “I have always been part of the same gang from a young age and our dynamics is such that we are open about all things to each other. I think we have been able to capture that chemistry on screen in our film.”
Chidambaram notes that his personal experiences helped him a lot in the making of Manjummel Boys. “I have also gone on these kinds of impulsive trips with my friends, borrowing money from home or lying to my parents as everyone does at that age. So we can all relate to that.” Speaking about the origins of the project and the actual incident that happened years back, Chidambaram reveals that it was a real story that people hailing from Kochi were aware of from a very young age. “This is an urban legend of sorts and most people from Kochi, including Soubin and I knew it. Our co-producer Shawn Anthony also happens to know the real-life ‘Manjummel Boys’ up close. He is the one who initiated the idea of telling this story on screen. We didn't discuss the script or anything initially since that is not the kind of bond I share with Soubin ikka. I spoke to him about my idea to do this film and he was immediately in for the ride as a star and producer. We were concerned only with how to pull off this project with the required budget and technical quality.” Chidambaram further shares that the friendship the team shares helps them work together. “One thing that connects all of us is movies. So when required, we can swiftly shift from our personal talks and discuss the film. For instance, when the shoot is happening, Soubin can easily juggle between his roles as a producer and a lead actor.”
Chidambaram asserts they’ve used 95% of the real incidents as told by the survivors without much dramatisation. He says, “It is only in the remaining five percent that I have brought in some elements in the form of scene transition cues and flashback scenes. I have shot those with some of my own takes to make things presentable to audiences.” The team is so sure that the rest has been represented as it happened because they spoke to the real-life ‘Manjummel gang’ and documented their struggles. The director also reveals that a documentary version of the same will also be released soon. He says, “We did a “Rashomon” kind of separate investigation with each of them. And we based the film on the different versions that all of them shared with us.” So what does Chidambaram hope to achieve with this film? “I think the way we have done this film will give a closure to the real-life “Manjummel Boys”. They should ideally find their much-needed closure after all these years of horrific memories. We strived to make it on such a level which will do justice to their truth.”