Never expected a National Award for my first film: Anil Radhakrishnan Menon

Filmmaker Anil Radhakrishnan Menon is elated to have won a National Award for the Best Malayalam Film for his maiden venture, North 24 Kaatham. The movie narrates the story of a programmer, Hariskrishnan, played by Fahadh Faasil, who has obsessive compulsive disorder, and his journey ahead.
The director, who has tried his luck at different jobs, believes it is films and filmmaking that finally clicked for him.KT catches up with the award-winning director.
On the National Award
I am too surprised, I never expected to bag a National Award for my first film. The movie was never made to win an award. When I heard my movie is nominated for the award, that itself was a big surprise for me.
On North 24 Kaatham
It was an honest effort. I thank the producer for showing interest in my project and also the actors, mainly Fahadh Faasil, Swathi Reddy and Nedumudi Venu; without them the movie wouldn’t have happened.
Title, character and then the plot…
I followed this order for my film. First I worked on the title, then I etched the characters and later the plot was formed. I had approached my friend, Anwar Rasheed, and some other directors too with the script, but Fahadh insisted that I direct the film myself. It is my family who gets to know about my script first and they had liked the first version of the film, before the cuts.
Next project
My next, Sapthamasree Thaskara, was planned much before North 24 Kaatham. However, the film required a lot more time and patience. It is a film with many actors and was not easy to get all of them together. So I went ahead with North 24 Kaatham.