As the Malayalam movie Ullozhukku creates waves at the box office, its debutant director Christo Tomy is basking in the success of the film. Two women bound and separated by secrets is the theme of Ullozhukku , a story of resistance, remorse and reconciliation. Christo Tomy with Urvashi on the set of Ullozhukku.
| Photo Credit:Special Arrangement Brilliantly anchored by the cast led by Urvashi (Leelamma) and Parvathy Thiruvothu (Anju), the intense theme does not falter as the characters navigate troubled waters during a physically and emotionally trying period in their life. Christo’s script for his film began from a place of grief when he lost his grandfather. As a result of the flood at Muttar in the Kuttanad region of Kerala, where Christo’s ancestral home is located, the family had to wait for nine days for the waters to subside before planning the burial.
In the movie, when Thomas dies, his mother, Leelamma, and his wife, Anju, are torn apart by suspicion. Meanwhile, the burial is postponed due to the flood. The generation gap becomes clear when the two women view the same circumstances from different perspectives.
The subtle nuances that Christo brings to his narrative give depth and heft to his characters. “I was determined that there should be no black and white characters. Like in real life, there had to be grey shades in all of them,” says Christo, who began writing the script in 2016.
Ullozhukku was part of the National Film Development (NFDC) Co-Production.
