There was not a dull moment on the set, says director Praveen Chandran about Malayalam web series, ‘Perilloor Premier League’

Perilloor Premier League (PPL) breezes through the lives of a bunch of quirky, unintentionally funny people of a fictional village, Perilloor. With the seven episode web series winning hearts, its director Praveen Chandran is a happy soul. Vijayaraghavan and Nikhila Vimal in a still from Perilloor Premier League | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement The series is the first independent directorial venture of Praveen who has worked in Malayalam cinema for over two decades.

Speaking to MetroPlus from Mannarkkad, his home town in Palakkad district, Praveen says that PPL happened because of its writer Deepu Pradeep, who has written Kunjiramayanam and Vipin Das’ upcoming Prithviraj Basil Joseph movie, Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil . The characters “The simple yet caricaturish characters in Perilloor are characters from Deepu’s blog [Deepu Pradeep Blog].

His stories are immensely popular. Since I am a fan of his writing, I got in touch with him and we became friends. I planned to make my directorial debut with a film written by him. But we couldn’t proceed beyond the pre production stage because the film required crowds and that was not possible then due to the pandemic.

So, the project was put on hold,” he says. Praveen Chandran, director of Perilloor Premier League | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT After that Deepu wrote a script bringing in characters from his blog and got in touch with the production house, E4 Entertainment. “They pitched the idea to Disney+ Hotstar and once the project was approved Deepu suggested my name to helm the series,” Praveen says.

In PPL, Malavika Purushothaman (Nikhila Vimal), a birdbrain herself, wants to get married to her childhood crush, Sreeraman aka Sreekuttan (Sunny Wayne), who is also a nitwit. The story unfolds when she is persuaded to become the Panchayat President, thanks to her manipulative uncle, Peethambaran (Vijayaraghavan).

Praveen Chandran (left) with Deepu Pradeep, writer of Perilloor Premier League | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Among other screwballs living in Perilloor are Soman (Ashokan), Malavika’s opponent who has never won an election but is never short on confidence; Gomathy (Jaya Kurup), Peethambaran’s wife, a queen of thug dialogues, most of them targetting her husband, Radhakrishnan (Sivaji Guruvayoor).

Then there are Sreekuttan’s flirtatious uncle, Psycho Balachandran, a sadist (Aju Varghese), a fake astrologer Ambareesh (Sarath Sabha), and Peethambaran’s ambitious aide, Chandu (Sajan Cherukayil), among others. “Malavika is perhaps the only character Deepu created for the series,” Praveen says.

Praveen admits that web series was an unfamiliar format for him since he has worked only in movies. He started his career as an assistant director in College Days (2010) after studying in a film school. He became a chief associate in Pattam Pole , followed by films such as Ithihasa, Urumbukal Urangarilla, Tiyaan, Luca and Kurup .

A still from Perilloor Premier League | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement “However, web series gives you more freedom as a director. This applies to scripting as well since you can go into sub plots without moving away from the main emotion. It was equally challenging and thrilling to bring so many characters on screen in PPL,” Praveen says.

The series is set in Sulthan Bathery and Ambalavayal in Wayanad district. “These locations have not been explored much. We had visualised a village in our mind and were able to identify such spots. Our cinematographer [Anoop V Shylaja] was able to capture the beauty of the picturesque locations,” he says.

Right cast Praveen asserts that the humour works only if the right cast is in place. “We were able to bring in the best actors, that too working within the budget.” Jaya Kurup and Aju Varghese in a still from Perilloor Premier League | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement He was particular about having Vijayaraghavan to play Peethambaran.

“Working with the seasoned actor was a learning experience. He wanted to be involved in designing his look because, according to him, he considers each film as his first film and is therefore nervous. He asked for prosthetic teeth for the upper jaw so that when he smiles the upper row of teeth is also visible.

He told us that usually when he smiles only the lower row is visible. But since his smile is a key weapon for Peethambaran, the actor wanted the character to have that full dentured smile!” Sunny Wayne in a still from Perilloor Premier League | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Soman is among Praveen’s favourite characters but he was confused about who to cast for the role.

“That’s when I saw Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam and loved Ashokan chettan ’s scenes. Viewers enjoyed watching Ashokan dancing his heart out thinking his party had won. Those steps were his own and we all enjoyed it,” Praveen says. Nikhila is playing the lead in Praveen’s debut film and she was a natural choice for PPL.

“I knew that she has a terrific sense of humour and playing the clueless Malavika was a cake walk for her. She suggested Jaya [Jaya Kurup] as Gomathy as they have worked in Ayalvaashi. As for Sunny, having known him for many years I wanted to explore a new side of him as an actor.” Director Praveen Chandran with Nikhila Vimal on the location of his web series Perilloor Premier League | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT PPL has almost all the actors Praveen has cast for his first film that will go on floors soon.

Some of them are from theatre, some have acted in sitcoms and a few of them have been doing small roles in movies. “I haven’t worked much with humorous content in my career although I love watching comedy. My first movie is going to be a light hearted one. The best thing about PPL was that there was not a dull moment on the set.

“It is nice when you can go about your work with a smile on your face. Every actor, irrespective of their experience, understood their character perfectly and brought their best to the table. So each of them have contributed to the success of PPL.” Perilloor Premier League is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

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