Filmmaker Revathy Varmah says ‘Ee Valayam’, a film about addiction to mobile phones, needed to made

Filmmaker Revathy S Varmah has worked with A-listers such as Shahrukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, and Amitabh Bachchan as an ad filmmaker. She is also working on a PT Usha biopic being mounted on an international scale. But she holds her latest, Ee Valayam, close to her heart, “This is a film that needed to be made, for society, for the next generation. This is my contribution to society.”

Ee Valayam, released on June 13, pans on nomophobia, or the fear of being without a mobile phone, or in lay terms mobile phone addiction. It tells the story of Nilaavu, a high school student, her mobile phone addiction and the downward spiral it causes. It impacts all aspects of her life — relationships, studies, hobbies — devastating her and her family. While the story is by Revathy, Sreejith Mohandas has written the screenplay. Revathy says Sreejith’s screenplay is as how she intended the film to be. 

“We did not sensationalise or dramatise the subject though there was plenty of scope to if one was so inclined. Sreejith also treaded that line carefully,” she adds.  While one set of people asked her, when they learnt what the subject was, if there would be murder, assault or kidnap, the other expected it to be preachy and ‘educational’. “It is a movie for the family, an entertaining, commercial film with all the elements of one. By the way, making a commercial film is easy but turning a subject such as Ee Valayam into a full-length commercial film is not.”   

When classes (school and college) shifted to the online mode, mobile phones, which until then were optional, became a necessity and that has led to another pandemic of sorts, Revathy says. “Excessive dependence on the device. Aggression, attacking parents, suicides — we are witnessing a surge in these tendencies of late. All these could be attributed to nomophobia. We hear of children who have stopped interacting with friends, refuse to get out of their rooms, going down the internet rabbit hole and into all kinds of things. We need to talk about it.” Revathy wrote the script during the lockdown, inspired by what she was happening around her. The film was shot thereafter but the release was delayed due to external factors. 

Renji Panicker, Nandu and Muthumani in a scene from the film
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The response to the theatrical release has been tepid, but feedback from those who have watched the film has been positive. Revathy is not surprised by the ‘theatre run’ or that lack thereof, “There are no ‘marketable’ stars in the film, so the response is as expected. But what is encouraging is that schools are taking children to watch the film. Hopefully that would create a positive impact and serve as an eyeopener. Ideally parents should also watch this film.”  

The crowd pullers may be missing but that does not mean the line-up of actors lacks heft. It has Renji Panicker, Muthumani, Nandu and Shalu Rahim in important roles. Nilaavu is essayed by newcomer Ashly Usha, who Revathy speaks highly about. “She has done a good job and her performance is coming up for praise. I deliberately picked new actors for the lead roles because they would bring in a certain freshness. Akshay Prashant is another newcomer.”

Revathy’s last outing in Malayalam, as director, was 2013’s Maad Dad, which starring Nazriya Nazim in the lead role. She has directed films (short and feature) and documentaries in Tamil, Hindi and even Sinhala such as June R, Kannaki, 146 Life, Face On the Crowd, and Aap Ke Liye Hum, and The Chugging Stories. She has also directed several commercials for brands such as Hyundai, Tata Tea, Kwality Walls, Kissan, Bru, Lion Dates, Unilever and Bombay Dyeing among others.