Ariyippu Becomes The First Malayalam Film To Compete At Locarno Film Festival

Ariyippu, titled Declaration in English, has been selected for a screening at the 75th Locarno Film Festival which opens on August 3, 2022, in Switzerland. It has been selected for the international competition section, creating history as the first Malayalam film to compete at the festival. 

Mahesh Narayanan, director of Ariyippu, is known for films such as Take Off, C U Soon, and Malik, which revolve around migrants of different kinds. Similarly, Ariyippu follows the life of a Kerala-origin couple living in Delhi, who dream of settling abroad. 

The Trailer

Set during the times of the pandemic and lockdown, a couple, Hareesh PV (Kunchacko Boban) and Reshmi (Divya Prabha) work in a glove manufacturing factory in Delhi. With their visas under process, they are forced to continue working in the factory to meet their daily needs. 

A manipulated video about the factory and its practices go viral among the workers. The video appears to have been recorded by Hareesh and features Reshmi. This gets the couple into trouble and also creates rifts between them. As they try to prove their innocence and fight the system, they battle personal, emotional, and social problems. 

Click here to watch the trailer

Produced by Kunchacko Boban under the banner Kunchacko Boban Productions, the film also stars Lovleen Misra, Danish Hussain, Faisal Malik, and Kannan Arunachalam. It is co-produced by Mahesh Narayanan and Shebun Backer. Sanu John Varughese is the DOP. Sudhin Shyam has scored the music and Mahesh Narayanan and Rahul Radhakrishnan have edited the film. 

After 17 Years…

A release from the makers reportedly read that Ariyippu will be the first Indian film to be screened at the Locarno competition section after 17 years. The last film to be screened was the Bengali movie Antarmahal in 2005. Directed by Rituparno Ghosh, the film starred Abhishek Bachchan and Soha Ali Khan. The last Malayalam film to be screened at the festival was Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Nizhalkkuthu as a special showcase in 2011.