Exclusive | 'Kattalan' Is The Biggest Film Of My Career: Antony Varghese

Antony Varghese's upcoming film Kattalan has been marketed as one of the biggest budgeted Malayalam action films of all time. The producers of this film have so far made Unni Mukundan's Marco, the ultra-violent action film that became the first A-rated Malayalam film to gross ₹100 crore. But with Kattalan, the makers want the film to reach a broader audience, and it comes with its share of drama and emotions. Insisting on this aspect, Varghese — with whom The Hollywood Reporter India exclusively caught up during the film's making in Thailand — explains why the film is the biggest title in his career.

You have shot many films abroad. How do you like this location situated on the Thai-Myanmar border? 

I love it. It looks like a lot like home, but the construction of the homes and the quality of the roads are very different. Those are the two major differences I’ve noticed. The rest are all the same. Otherwise, it’s all like home, including the weather and atmosphere. Even the trees look the same, and that’s why we chose to set our action scenes here, because it looks like the forests of Kerala. 

But it’s so far away from home…

Yes. We’re very close to the Myanmar border, and it’s just two to three hundred kilometres from here. The team has consciously brought all of us to this remote corner to make sure we’re working properly. (laughs)

How has it been working with elephants? Now it’s almost become a brand to see you in a film with an elephant.

I don’t think that’s true. I have done Ajagajantharam (2021), and even in that, we tried to shoot without VFX or CGI. But in that film, the elephant was our buddy. In Kattalan, the elephant is against us, and that’s what we are shooting here. It’s also risky to shoot these portions, and it has come out well so far. We’re trying to do it with a lot of positivity. There was a little bit of fear in the beginning, but now all that is gone. That’s thanks to how friendly the elephants are. If someone plays music, you can see the elephants dance. 

The elephants have acted in international films too, haven’t they? 

They’ve acted in Ong Bak [2003 Thai film]. The director tells me that they’ve both been performing better than I have (laughs).

But what is the one challenging aspect of shooting here?  

The only tough part is communication. Not just as a part of the shoot, but even when we go around asking people for routine things. This includes giving directions. I'm not very good at English myself, but the locals don’t speak the language even as much as I do. We manage with Google Translate. 

And the elephants? 

At the end of the day, we are working with a wild animal, aren’t we? But with Pepsi (the name of the elephant), he’s the one who made it feel super comfortable for us to work with. He dances for us, and plays around with us. That’s when I learnt that he’s well behaved and about his performances in Hollywood films. He has definitely performed better than us. 

Is it fair to call this the biggest film of your career? 

Yes, it is. I think the budget alone will come up to around the ₹30 to ₹35 crore. It’s the biggest film I’ve done as a hero. I have that responsibility and the excitement of becoming part of such a film. But one cannot call Kattalan just a pure action film either. It has emotions, tricks and a mix of everything. 

While you’re shooting here, do you think about how different it would have been were you to film sequences of this scale back home?

Shooting with a real elephant is not practical or easy in India. There is a comfort zone when you’re shooting at home, but it’s not always practical to shoot such portions there. The people [here] are all very nice, and they treat you with so much love and respect…perhaps more than back home. I love their culture and love their food too. I especially love the red and green curry with their noodles.

Would you want to shoot here again? 

Let me finish this film first and return home with good health and a film.