Lighter colours for Fahadh’s next

Fahadh Faasil’s upcoming film Monsoon Mangoes has already evoked a lot of curiosity owing to its vibrant trailer and posters.
What seems to have appealed to the audience the most though is its warm colour tones, which its director Abi Varghese reveals, were deliberately chosen. “We were very specific from the pre-production stage that we use lighter colours such as orange, yellow and salmon.It’s a film with a lot of warmth and I wanted people to get used to the environment,” says Abi, about his feature film debut.
The movie is shot extensively in New Orleans, USA, and that’s one of the reasons why it has a hue that is rarely used in Malayalam cinema. “Monsoon Mangoes is not one of those stories set in Kerala, telling a traditional story. But still, I wanted the audience to relate to it,” he explains. The selection of palettes extended to the settings and also the apparel. “Even Fahadh’s costumes throughout the film are light hued because I wanted him to be likeable,” says the Akkarakazchakal creator. On how they went about it, Abi says, “We were strict about avoiding a lot of colours, for instance, violet. That made the process easy for the cinematographer and production designer as they knew which colours to steer clear from.”
The film had a largely international crew that Abi had collaborated with for many short films and the TV series Brown Nation. “I grew up with them. We did a lot of work together, so we are a small but tightly-knit group,” says Abi. The team was as diverse as it gets. “We had a Polish cinematographer, a Mexican art director and Spanish sound designer, and all of them came together to make a Malayalam movie. After working in this film, it’s clear to me that the world of cinema brings people closer.”
So how did the Malayalam cast and crew fit in? “It took them some time to get used to it,” he explains. “For example, I needed to explain everything twice – once to the Malayalis and then to the English crew. We also had two versions of the scripts. But after the first couple of days, both teams gelled well and it was fun filming.”