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Dream debut with new film 'Jilebi'

There is something endearingly inspiring about the story of Arun Shekhar, a Dubai-based filmmaker, who is cutting his teeth in the Malayalam film industry with his first directorial venture, Jilebi, starring Jayasoorya and Remya Nambeesan.

Produced by East Coast Vijayan, who also has strong roots in the UAE, the film will roll in end-February with the first schedule in Dubai followed by shooting stints in Trichur, Kodaikanal and the entire road stretch that connects the two places.

A road movie and a clean family entertainer, as Arun describes it, Jilebi’s journey to realisation is the sort that would give aspiring filmmakers goosebumps and enough inspiration not to let go of their passion and dreams. Let us start with the name: Arun didn’t have a title for his film even after he completed the script in a marathon one-month creative rush. And when the point came for the film to be announced, the clapboard still lacked that vital element – the film’s name.

“It was late night and I was with a friend waiting in Aluva to catch a bus home,” recalls Arun, who is from Chalakkudy and has been a Dubai resident since 2000. Fighting off the notorious mosquitoes of Kochi and rattling off potential names for the film, Arun finally zeroed in on the song Jalebi Bai from the Bollywood movie, Double Dhamaal.

“It just seemed so right for our protagonist, an NRI based in Dubai, who is forced to take two children on a road trip from Trichur to Kodaikanal,” says Arun. “The character is endearing, loved by kids, and nothing seemed to suit his character than the phrase ‘Jalebi bai’.”

Arun knocked off the ‘bai’ for the movie that is a sweet tale of human bonding. “I would give total credit to Jayasoorya and East Coast Vijayan for the film coming to life,” says Arun. He had already endured disappointment in meeting his film aspirations. While professionally he had made his mark already as a commercial and corporate filmmaker with clients such as UAE Exchange, Xpress Money and NMC Healthcare, among others, the cinema journey wasn’t an easy one.

He had earlier worked on SRK, a film produced by Warner Bros, starring Vinay Pathak. Despite being completed, it still hasn’t reached the theatre circuit. The second film, also in Bollywood, was Sarfarosh-director John Mathew Matthan’s A New Love Ishtory, which went straight to YouTube.

Crestfallen, yet not giving up on his dreams, Arun penned an action-comedy with four protagonists. “I approached a number of young actors but because the film didn’t have a solo hero, it was summarily turned down.”

Arun then started working on another script, and hit an enormous creative road-block. “Those were like dark days that pushed me into near depression,” he says. It was then that the basic spark of Jilebi was ignited.

He worked vigorously on the script with no particular actor in mind. “Jayasoorya was kind enough to sit through a story-telling session for nearly two hours and after the end of it, he just stood up, shook hands and the project was on.”

While getting Jayasoorya’s go-ahead was one-thing, finding a producer was the next. “There were several challenges on the way until Jayasoorya spoke to East Coast Vijayan.” Following the stupendous success of My Boss, East Coast Vijayan was going slow on their next venture. “He said he had listened to over 150 stories but Jilebi’s simplicity appealed to him. He immediately okayed the project.”

For Arun, this is big new step in his career. Having started off in editing, working for director Roshan Andrrews’ tele-serial in the late 1990s, he has worked as editor and producer with Asianet in Dubai before moving to an Arabic channel as all-round creative professional.

Soon, he switched to freelancing as a commercial filmmaker and also made the immensely popular Malayalipenne music video that was promoted by Kerala Tourism. He also did the night-editing for Arabikatha, a film shot in Dubai, without as much as having a bound script with him. “Director Lal Jose was quite impressed with the job as it is difficult to edit without a script, and it was a major confidence-booster.”
For Jilebi, Arun drew immensely on the support of his wife Sandhya, who is closely associated with the project, as well as several of his friends.

“Of course, I would have loved to give several newcomers the opportunity but the lesson I learnt from the years of struggle is that dreaming together is different from getting things done. Fortunately, my friends know and understand it.”

With Jilebi, Arun is aware that he is shouldering a big challenge, more so because of its road-movie narrative and also as it features two children in key roles. “But having scripted it and having the entire movie reeling out in my mind, I breathe and live the film now. And that is my energy to take on the challenges.”

Arun is now waiting for that moment when the first clap goes live, and the film rolls out in Dubai. “It is the city that moulded me and what better place to start the film than here.”