The Malayalam film, The Teacher, directed by Vivek is running successfully across Kerala and receiving positive feedback from the audience.
Starring Amala Paul, Hakkim Shahjahan, Manju Pillai, and Chemban Vinod in key roles, the movie deals with the life of a rape survivor.
Hakkim Shajahan, who plays the husband of the rape survivor in the film, spoke exclusively to South First about the movie and his career. Here are excerpts:
Q. The Teacher is getting positive reviews across the state. How did you get this role opposite Amala Paul?
A. The story cannot be explained in a few lines. It’s the result of my struggle for the past 10 years. My first role in Mollywood was in ABCD: American-Born Confused Desi in 2013.
I was one among the 20,000 youngsters in Kochi aspiring to be a star. I was not even noticed by prominent filmmakers during my initial years.
Then I had a career in theatre for four years through which I got a chance in the Tamil film Kadaseela Biriyani, directed by Nishant Kalidindi.
My role as Johan Kariya in the film got noticed and I received appreciation from all around. From then, I’ve been getting good roles.
Q. What was the biggest appreciation that you’ve got after Kadaseela Biriyani?
A. The biggest appreciation came from the Tamil superstar Vijay Sethupathi.
One day, Nishant messaged me saying that Sethupathi watched the film and he might call you. I failed to notice that message and I was overwhelmed after I attended the call from Makkal Selvan.
He talked to me for almost 15 minutes about my character, appreciated me and gave his feedback. Even my close friends never analysed my acting the way he did. I was in such shock that I could barely reply with a “Thanks”!
Q. Can you brief us on the plot of The Teacher?
A. The movie speaks about a socially relevant issue, the survival of a rape victim and her family. I play Sujith, the husband of the rape survivor Devika (Amala Paul).
He is a typical Malayali with a patriarchal outlook. He is not able to support his wife — a physical education teacher — who gets raped after being drugged. Sujith is a selfish person who blames the victim for the assault.
The movie shows how they deal with the issue and how their marriage survives after the trauma.
Q. Almost all your movies have dealt with socially-relevant issues, be it The Teacher or Freedom@Midnight. Is it a conscious decision or an accident?
A. Once a person asked me why I was doing films that are female-centric. He cited the examples of Freedom@Midnight and Archana 31 Not Out. And my answer to this question has been the same ever since.
We live in a society that is still surprised watching female-centric movies. And that is the reason I believe such films need to be made.
If the stories and struggles of a group that constitutes half of our society are not getting representation, then it is high time to change that.
I’m not saying that society will change as soon as they watch a few movies of mine. It takes time.
What I’m saying is that, if one young girl gets liberated after watching my movies, then it’s a win for me.
Q. What are your future projects?
A. A Malayalam movie named Pranayavilasam directed by Nikhil Murali will be released in January 2023.
The shooting of Porattu Nadakam produced by director Siddique will start in December-end. A Tamil movie and a Telugu movie are also in the pipeline.
