Writer of ‘Kurup’ is here in Technopark

TechnoparkToday.com>> A movie based on the life of one of the most wanted fugitives of the country, ‘Kurup’ made headlines much before its release. The trailer hit a million views within hours after its launch. It was a moment of jubilation for every member of the ‘Kurup’ team, except its script writer.

Debutant script writer Daniell Sayooj Nair, an employee of a Technopark company, was not just away from the fanfare, but could even watch the trailer before it hit the 1 million view.
IT professional-turned-script writer Daniell was hospitalised after an accidental fall from a stair at his flat.

His phone was constantly ringing as friends and relatives wanted to share the excitement of seeing his name in the poster. “I had to upload an image of my bandaged face as a Whatsapp status to let people know that I am unwell and not arrogant,” said Daniell, with a smile. By the time Daniell saw and shared the trailer, it had already crossed 1.5 million views.

An ‘accidental’ script writer, Daniell met director Srinath Rajendran as an acting aspirant. Soon the duo, with some common interests, turned friends. It was Srinath who offered Daniell to write the script of Sukumara Kurup, Kerala’s most talked about fugitive. What followed was a strenuous and painstaking process of research and writing.

It was a surreal experience for Daniell to spend time with some of the acquaintances and family members of Sukumara Kurup, who co-operated with the research for the movie. “The film CIA was being screened on the TV while I met one old grandmother of the Kurup family. Showing Dulquer Salmaan, I told her that he is playing the role of Kurup. To my surprise, she commented that Dulquer reminded her of Kurup,” said Daniell, who co-wrote the script and dialogues with K S Aravind.

Though there were discussions on whether the movie attempts to glorify a criminal, Daniell said that the team didn’t respond as they knew that it was untrue. “We tried to give maximum justice to the facts. I have invested a good amount of time with retired DySP Haridas, who had an impressive collection of all documents related to the Sukumara Kurup case,” said Daniell. Actor Indrajith will rephrase the role of DySP Haridas in the film.

Daniell was the one who narrated the script to most of the actors in the film. “As a debutant, I was nervous when I entered into the caravan of Dulquer to narrate the script. Dulquer offered some water to ease my tension. Actor-director Soubin too was there in the caravan. Though we were meeting for the first time, he gave a thumbs up gesture, that gave me confidence. I received the same kind of support throughout the process from the team Kurup,” he said.

Daniell said that the entire team, consisting of director Srinath, cameraperson Nimish Ravi, musician Sushin Shyam and actors Dulquer, Indrajith,  Sunny Wayne, Bibin Perumbillikunnel, and co-writer Aravind KS made great efforts to create the movie in an epic style.

Daniell is a native of Kollam and lives at Trivandrum now.  His wife Merly S Joseph is also a Technopark employee.

Suryajith, TechnoparkToday.com