Motorcycle Diaries is not shelved: Rajesh Pillai

They say a director’s first movie helps him break into the industry while the second truly proves his mettle. However, they don’t talk about the added pressure and expectations that come with the third film and Mollywood director Rajesh Pillai would testify to this.
The director, whose previous film Traffic was a trendsetter and heralded as the film that kicked off the so-called new gen wave, has been taking his time for his third film, Motorcycle Dairies.With the film being delayed and its lead actors, Kunchacko Boban and Nivin Pauly, being busy with other projects, there were rumours that it has been shelved.
However, Rajesh informs us, “The film is still on. I’ve spend close to two years working on it so that it would be close to perfection.” The director also says that the film will go on floors this year with a release planned on the first half of next year.
Incidentally, the director has also been busy with the Bollywood version of Traffic. “The Hindi version of the film will also go on floors soon. We’re discussing the dates for the release and hope to start as soon as possible,” he says.
Ask him about the long gap between Traffic and his next project and Rajesh tells us, “There’s been some pressure, most of which I’m putting on myself to deliver the best follow up to a film such as Traffic. But I can assure you that the audience will not be let down by my next film. So, even if I take time, it’ll be to bring out the best.”