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Homeopathy practitioner turns to Malayalam cinema.

IT COULD BE contended that Dr. Iqbal Kuttippuram is the first ‘new generation’ scriptwriter in Malayalam cinema. Only, Dr. Iqbal, a homeopathy practitioner who lives in Dubai, refuses such a tag.

For him, the first ‘new generation’ team in Malayalam cinema was director Fazil and actors Mohanlal, Shankar and Poornima Jayaram, who brought a whiff of fresh air with their Manjil Virinja Pookal. They went on to become defining names in the film industry.

Dr. Iqbal’s own credentials as a writer who understands the pulse of youth is impeccable. Credited with the story of Niram, a vintage teenybopper film, he went on to write Swapnakoodu, again capturing the pulse of the changing youth without exaggeration.
His next venture with director Jayaraj, 4 the People, made box-office history, and is counted as an expression of youth activism much before it became fashionable.

Just when Dr. Iqbal was set to fit into the mould of the ‘youth writer,’ he stepped out of his comfort zone with Arabikatha, one of the finest portrayals of expatriate life in the Gulf in mainstream Malayalam cinema directed by Lal Jose.

He surprised audiences yet again by shifting gears to another ‘youth film’ with Sevenes, before captivating audiences with a superhit film set in Dubai, Diamond Necklace, also directed by Lal.

Dr. Iqbal says that he simply does not want to be stereotyped, and that explains the mise-en-scène of his new movie as writer, Oru Indian Pranayakatha.

Directed by Sathyan Anthikadu, the film, starring Fahadh Faasil and Amala Paul, breaks away from any turf that Dr Iqbal has worked on previously.

Releasing this week at theatres in Kerala, it is about an ambitious political worker (Fahadh) in Kottayam, who fits perfectly with the conventional stereotypes of right-leaning party members.

“When Sathyettan met me in Dubai for a story discussion, frankly, I didn’t have any story to tell him,” recalls Dr. Iqbal. “For several days, we discussed everything else except cinema. He told me stories of his initial years in Chennai, and anecdotes from his village, and on my part, I cooked for him.”

He was working with Sathyan for the first time, and it was important that they share the right synergy.
The idea of casting Fahadh as a Congress party worker was the starting point of the movie.

“We built the entire premise based on that one character but apart from politics serving as a backdrop, Oru Indian Pranayakatha is not a political film. It is a light-hearted, feel-good movie,” adds Dr. Iqbal.

While the trailers of the film on YouTube give the impression of ample political satire, Dr. Iqbal says he has only portrayed what he feels is closest to life.

“Living in Dubai gives you a different perspective of life in Kerala. We get to watch events and people from a distance, with some third-person neutrality. And I don’t think we really need to make people laugh with political satire films now; they get enough of that through 24-hour television.”

Dr. Iqbal says the most difficult part of scripting the film was to get the right humour quotient.

“I grew up watching Sathyettan’s films. He and Sreenivasan have made some of the most compelling films that are rich in humour. I knew that if my script could bring a smile on Sathyettan, it would work with the audience.”

While writing, he also spoke to several of his friends from Kottayam who live in Dubai to get the dialect of the protagonist right. “I would talk to them for long not mentioning anything at all about the film,” says Dr. Iqbal, who tries to steer clear off all celebrity thrills and frills, and prefers to keep a relatively low profile.

Down to earth, affable and soft spoken, Dr. Iqbal balances his careers as Medical Director at Homeopathiq in Karama, Dubai, and a superhit scriptwriter, by practising only in the evenings. He spends his time watching movies, reading and writing. He is also insistent on only working on one film per year.

Dr. Iqbal tries to keep his characters as real as possible. “Several people told me how Arabikatha and Diamond Necklace gave them a new perspective on living in Dubai, while those who live here told me how the characters reminded them of people they knew.”

The next film in line from Dr. Iqbal with Lal Jose, Vikramaditya stars Dulquer Salman and Unni Mukundan.

Passionate about writing and movies, with absolutely no pretensions, Dr. Iqbal lives among us – as one of us - creating films that touch a chord in the minds of viewers.