John Abraham’s ‘Amma Ariyan’ Made Us Take A Leap of Faith: Amal Prasi and Salmanul on ‘The Leftovers

Arjun Menon

The Leftovers

The film written, produced and directed by a five-man crew is a timely exploration of the social and economical degradation of Kerala's development prospects and how the youth have to sit back and wait endlessly for state-sponsored jobs.

How Did You Guys Finance This Film?

Amal: The budget is too low for the film as we did not have a producer per se for the project. It was a team effort and was financed by a five-member crew mostly composed of friends. Rajeev Ravi sir helped us with post-production patch-up works.

When Did You Guys Decide To Quit Your Jobs And Make This Film?

We have been friends ever since college. it so happened that both of us were forced to quit our jobs at about the same time. So we decided to get together to do something centered on the issue of unemployment as it was the most pressing issue for us at the time.

How Did You Conceive The Meter For The Performance? 

Salmanul : We had a solid idea from the early days, so there was no such confusion as we were clear that only one emotion should reflect in our hero at all times, which is helplessness. That helped us map a consistent graph for the character.

How Have The Reactions From The Industry Been Like?

Amal : We have received calls of support from directors like Jis Joy, Krishand, Mahesh Narayanan and Vinod Illampally among others. It's been a surreal feeling to feel that your work means something.