Vehicle plays the lead role in Mollywood

Cast a vehicle as one of the lead characters in your film and you might just manage to have a hit formula on hand.
Take for example vehicle-driven stories like Mohanlal’s Aye Auto and Dileep’s Ee Parakkum Thalika that ran to packed houses. Now, treading the same path is C S Sudesh’s Houseful, in which a scooter plays the pivotal character.
“It’s a satire that tells the story of a nuclear family that dreams of upgrading from a scooter to a car, and the problems they face in the process,” says the director, adding that it is the twowheeler that drives the story.
The entertainer, scripted by Arun Lal, has actor Baburaj playing the lead role with his Salt ‘N Pepper co-star Shweta Menon, and will commence shooting from May 10 in Trivandrum. Though it could be the first time that a scooter is the central character in a Malayalam film, there have been a number of vehicle-driven films that have worked wonders at the box office. The rickshaw cart in 1965 Sathyan-film, Odayil Ninnu, the train in the Mammootty-Mohanlal blockbuster, No. 20 Madras Mail, Jayaram’s The Car — which toyed around the thread of mistaken identity of an automobile, and Mohanlal’s Aye Auto which told the tale of autorickshaw drivers; are just a few.
Lorries and buses too have been central characters. For instance, the rickety bus in Dileep’s comedy caper Ee Pa ra k k u m Thallika provided the perfect setting for the movie. The bus named Gulf Motors in Mohanlal ’s Varavelppu and the Chekuthan lorry in Spadh-ikam were also important characters of the films they were featured in.
Judging by the BO figures of such movies, it’s no secret that a vehicle-driven plots fuel commercial success.
Stars on the track
Aye Auto — Autorickshaw Ee Parakkum Thalika — Bus Odayil Ninnu — Rickshaw cart No. 20 Madras Mail — Train Varavelppu — Bus Spadhikam — Lorry Champakulam Thachan — Snake boat Thachiledathey Chundan — Snake boat Ordinary — Bus Bus conductor — Bus