Having bankrolled some of the most quirky, yet well-recognised films in recent times, from director
Jeo Baby’s Great Indian Kitchen ( GIK ) to Freedom Fight , Sreedhanya Catering Service , Purusha Pretham and the Tamil film Kathal Enbathu Pothuudami on a same-sex relationship, among others, producer Jomon Jacob of Mankind Cinemas says they also did the same with their streaming project, The Chronicles of the 4. 5 Gang ( Sambhava Vivaranam Nalara Sangham ). Set in Thiruvananthapuram, the six-part series tells the story of a small-time gang of slum kids, who decide to go big with the help of a ghostwriter to retell their story. The series, which has Sanju Sivram, Niranj Maniyanpilla Raju, Shambhu, Sreenath, Sachin, Jagadish, Indrans and Darshana Rajendran in key roles, is being streamed in Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu.
The story for the latter is told through a very different approach, with a non-linear narrative, he points out.
“The cast was also put together in a very interesting manner. It was shot in a single schedule over 100 days, and all the departments worked very well together. We, perhaps, have not seen a series like this in Malayalam,” he says, adding that the show has received positive reviews.
Having started cinema production with GIK , Jomon shares that his aim is “to create entertainers that are different”. “Jeo is now our creative head and is actively involved with our script selection process,” he says, adding, “My dream is to do content that is different.
GIK and Purusha Pretham were very different films. Similarly, The Chronicles of the 4. 5 Gang is a very different series. I’m looking at content-oriented scripts. I’d like to attempt different styles that we have not seen before, to audiences. To enable this, I’m keen to tie up with different makers. We have different kinds of films coming from the industry, from Aavesham to Lokah . Cinema has evolved according to trends and audiences. I want to move with the trend. ” Currently, he is preparing to release his next film, Ithiri Neram , directed by Prashant Vijay, which has Roshan Mathew and Zarin Shihad in lead roles. He says that creating projects that are different and selling them are not easy. “Even after we had finished GIK , we faced a lot of rejections and were not able to sell the film. It was only after it was released on a streaming platform that audiences appreciated it. Now, we have the confidence that we will be able to sell a project when we take it on,” he concludes.
