Suraj Venjaramoodu plays a motivational speaker in family drama set in Dubai

Lukka Chuppi

fame director Bash Mohammed is back in Mollywood with a family drama, starring Suraj Venjaramoodu in the lead. The movie, titled Love Jihad, tells the story of two Malayali families based out of Dubai and recently, Suraj’s character poster was revealed, with his get-up as Balu, the protagonist of the film.

Bash tells us more, “Lukka Chuppi was a slow-paced film, but this one would have a quicker narration. This film is the story of two middle-class families, one of which belongs to the Hindu religion and the other, Muslim. The film explores a relationship that blooms between two young adults in these families, and how the Muslim family visits the other household to speak about the same. This is not a dark film, but a relatable, pleasant comedy that handles the many conservative thoughts in society, in a sarcastic manner.”

While many have been questioning his choice of title for the project, Bash explains his reasons, “The original meaning of the term jihad is struggle. It is not what it is made out to be by right-wing politicians. Anyone can check it from the right sources. If you quote this usage to people outside of India, they might not associate it with the current interpretation. As for my reason, in our country, whenever there is a love affair between two people belonging to different religions or castes, there is an aspect of struggle involved. Moreover, this movie is shot in Dubai, an Arabian country. That’s all. I have no intention to trigger any communal tensions here. Probably, as there is a ‘Mohammed’ in my name, people might be finding it problematic.”

Suraj’s character Balu is a motivational speaker, who is also an insurance agent, reveals Bash. “I have placed the character as someone belonging to the Ernakulam – Alappuzha area,” he says. While Suraj’s character is not given any special looks, Bash reveals that Siddique and Lena, who play the Muslim family members, are given a different appearance. “Their characters form an orthodox family from the Kozhikode – Malappuram region.”
The film also addresses the general worries of parents around marrying off their daughters at the right age and the clichéd ‘do’s and ‘don’ts’ that are imposed on our girls, Bash says. “While Kerala brags about being a progressive, educated society, one of our ‘basic problems’ is ‘daughter’s wedding.’ Also, how often do we see ads for different community-specific matrimonial services, on our newspapers and TV channels? Funnily enough, all our progressive thoughts exist only till this topic comes up, and this story lines up all of it,” says the director.