The filmmaker gives credit to scriptwriter Deepu Pradeep for creating the fictional village and quirky characters in the web show.
'Perilloor Premier League' web series director Praveen Chandran. (Supplied)
The brand-new Malayalam web series Perilloor Premier League is drawing a positive response from the OTT audience, thanks to its quirky characters and slapstick comedy.
The web show, consisting of seven episodes, marks the directorial debut of Praveen Chandran.
It is tough making people laugh for two-and-a-half hours in a film. Now, imagine the difficulty in the case of a web series with a runtime of over four hours. But the debutant director proved his mettle with the Malayalam web show.
“We were not telling any powerful story through Perilloor Premier League. Also, the characters did not carry too many emotions. Humour was the only highlight of our web series. So, we tried not to force comedy into the storyline. It was a huge task and I’m glad we pulled it off,” Praveen Chandran told South First.
The pooja function of ‘Perilloor Premier League’. (Supplied)
The story revolves around the protagonist Malavika, played by Nikhila Vimal.
When asked why he chose Nikhila Vimal as the leading lady, the director replied, “Nikhila’s Malavika has her fantasies. But she is a mature person. The character also has humour in it. Being an experienced actor, I knew Nikhila could do the role,” Praveen said.
Before commencing the shoot, he told Nikhila that her character does not need cuteness but quirkiness similar to that of senior actor Urvashi.
Praveen Chandran noted that all the female characters played a significant role in the web series.
“Those apart, Vijayaraghavan’s Peethambaran character is an interesting one. His convincing power is a major highlight of the web show. He was in contact with me to know about his character,” he explained.
The director revealed that he planned a dance step in a particular scene for Ashokan’s Keman Soman character and also gave him a reference from a movie. But Ashokan wanted to perform it in his style and it elevated the scene.
As regards Sunny Wayne’s Sreekuttan — who was looking for a bride, the filmmaker said he wanted the actor to use the Valluvanadan dialect since he had to show that he came from an elite family. “Sunny Wayne is my friend and has a good sense of humour. I had a feeling that he would pull off the character.”
Praveen added, “The people in the fictional village of Perilloor live in their comfort zone. Also, they have distinct characteristics. If you watch the web show keenly, you will get the answers to why they are so lazy.”
അങ്ങനെ നിങ്ങളാഗ്രഹിക്കുന്നതു നടത്തി തന്നാൽ പിന്നെ എന്നെ സൈക്കോ ബാലചന്ദ്രൻ എന്ന് വിളിക്കുന്നതിൽ കാര്യമില്ലല്ലോ 😉
Thank you #praveeenchandran #deepupradeep @E4Emovies @cvsarathi @e4echennai @DisneyPlusHS #PerilloorPremierLeague
Thank you #arjunashokan for ur inspiration 🤓 pic.twitter.com/3mLHdA4IHU
— Aju Varghese (@AjuVarghesee) January 7, 2024
Praveen Chandran with an actor from ‘Perilloor Premier League’. (Supplied)
The filmmaker gives credit to scriptwriter Deepu Pradeep for creating the fictional village and quirky characters in the web show.
Perilloor Premier League is based in Valluvanad in the Palakkad district and focuses on Cherpulassery and Ottapalam areas, where landlords and people of higher castes live.
The shooting took place in Wayanad as it has more picturesque locations. There were three assistant directors solely for casting.
Interestingly, Praveen Chandran planned a movie with Deepu Pradeep which, however, didn’t work out. According to the filmmaker, they finished the pre-production work for the project for over a year. It was based in Malappuram with football in the backdrop.
Nevertheless, Perilloor Premier League happened unexpectedly. It was Deepu Pradeep and the producer who pitched the plot to the OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar.
“They wanted a comedy web series in their lineup of projects and asked me to helm it. It was a huge task. Thankfully, most of the actors I worked with in my previous films were roped in for the web show, thus making my job easier,” he explained.
Praveen said the team was well aware that they were shooting a seven-episode web series of four-and-half-hour duration. “We got only 30 days for pre-production work. Also, the shooting was not done in an order. It was like making two films but we had a great time.”
About the “PL” number series for vehicles, the filmmaker said he knew that the web series would be watched by non-Malayali people, too. “If the number plate is ‘KL’, they might think that politicians and people here are fools. So, we went for the ‘PL’ number series.”
When asked if took references from the classic Malayalam satire Panchavadi Palam (1984) or Sandesham (1991) to make Perilloor Premier League, Praveen Chandran clarified that he did not. But he admitted that all these movies inspired him to become a filmmaker.
Next, he is doing a film with Deepu Pradeep. Well, here’s wishing him the best!
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