Barroz, the first film that Malayalam superstar Mohanlal is directing, is not anymore based on the script by Jijo Punnoose, the veteran who made the first 3D film in India, My Dear Kuttichathan, 38 years ago. Jijo, who maintains a blog for his lovely long writings, posted about his initial plans for the film, the changes that occurred in between, and the final role he played in it – “execute the rotating-set scene where ghost Barroz walks the walls of the treasure cellar.” 

That was his only involvement in the revised Barroz project, he says. The present form of the script, rewritten from Jijo’s, mostly came from Mohanlal, with the help of director Rajeevkumar, who had once been an associate of Jijo.

Mohanlal had announced his decision to turn to direction in April 2019, and posted regular updates on roping in foreign actors for the project. The film, then scripted by Jijo, was based on a novel he wrote in 2017, about an Afro-Indian-Portuguese myth. When Jijo first thought of adapting it to film, encouraged by his colleagues, he meant to do it in English and Hispanic languages, with two main characters: an aged Afrikaner and a teenage girl of Malayalee-Portuguese lineage.

“I decided to develop the screenplay as a teenage fantasy - as if the story was happening within the mind of a 21st century adolescent girl - Isa, who imagines that she is the incarnation of a 18th century heiress - Isabella, daughter of Cristavo D’Gama. The girl is constantly fighting an inner battle to escape a make-belief ghost who guards a treasure for her. More than his treasure, his companionship is what the lonely girl longs for. This was a marked departure from the original novel,” he wrote in his blog.

At this stage Mohanlal had not been in the picture. The film’s producer Swapna David, suggested by veteran filmmaker Shaji N Karun, had prepared a project budget and timeline. Quite a lot of research went into the preparations. As many as 1,500 drawings were created by various artists. Isa was to be played by Shayala McFee, a very talented young actor in Jijo’s point of view.

It was in mid-2018 that Mohanlal became a part of the project, when Rajeevkumar suggested that he play the treasure-guarding ghost. Jijo was apprehensive about turning the treasure-guarding ghost into an Indian “when the myth all along the Malabar coast for four centuries told about ‘Kappiri Muthappan’ - an Afrikaner protagonist.” But Josy Joseph, a Malayalam scholar who was on board, added a convincing backstory to make it work.

In 2019, Jijo declined the offer to direct the film and Mohanlal surprised him by saying that he would like to direct it himself. “I said it is a wonderful idea, and that I am privileged,” he wrote, adding how he had assisted several directors in their first films, including Fazil, Raghunath Paleri, Rajeevkumar and others.

Watch: Barroz - making glimpse

Calling Mohanlal Lalumon (an affectionate pet name), Jijo described how the script got rewritten 22 times in the months that followed, to suit everyone’s liking. But he was firm that the central character had to be the teenage girl Isa. “It went well with everyone, since the focus was on Mohanlal the Director; not Mohanlal the Actor,” he wrote.

However, the project had to be halted twice with the outbreak of the first and second waves of COVID-19. By the time the project was revived in late 2021, it was decided that the story, script and performers would be changed. In December 2021, the script was rewritten so it could be shot in Kochi, and not Goa as earlier planned.

“Lalumon, in the process of re-writing, fashioned the screenplay and the character of Barroz much like his recent hits - Odiyan, Pulimurugan, Lucifer and Marakkar, so as to satisfy his fan base. I could understand that with the changed screenplay, the focus of the film was to entertain the Malayalee family film audience. Lalumon could do it with his knowledge of 350 films (as against my mere 7). In this restructuring, Rajeev took over the role from me in assisting Lalumon,” Jijo wrote.

Since the original script was no longer used, Jijo and team would resume their attempts to make the fantasy film in English/Hispanic as they had initially planned, about the Kappiri Ghost, he wrote.

Also read: 'My Dear Kuttichathan': Actor Sonia recalls memories from the shoot of India's first 3D film

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