MOVIE NEWS

Casting Call for Pramod Payyanur's "BALYAKAALASAKHI".

“Balyakalasakhi”, written by one of the all-time great novelist of Malayalam literature, Vaikom Mohammed Basheer, is being made in to a movie by Pramod Payyanur with Mammootty as it’s central character.
The cinematic version is being made doing full justice to Basheer’s classic creation as well as to all the characters in the story. Pramod and his team are on the look-out to identify new faces for maintaining the simplicity of the characters. The arrangements being made to identify new faces were revealed at a press conference attended by Mammootty, Pramod Payyanur and the makers of the film.
About ten from school/college levels and fifteen from the field of theater/fine arts will have the opportunity to portray Basheer’s characters in the film.
Aspirants from all districts of Kerala are welcome to take part in the audition. The selection will be conducted in three different centers, namely Kozhikode, Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram. Those belonging to Kannur, Kasargode, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Malappuram will be called to Kozhikode on 20th, 21st and 22nd of February, and those from Palakkad, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kottayam and Idukki will be called to Ernakulam on 25th, 26th and 27th of February for selection.
The selection at Thiruvananthapuram will be for those coming from Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram and will be held on 3rd, 4th and 5th of March.
In each center, first day’s selection will be among school children aged 5 to 13, and on the second day, for students aged 18 to 20. In each section, ten aspirants will be selected and on the third day, fifteen artists from the theater/fine arts field (Male and female) will be selected. Children of NRI Malayalees are also eligible to participate and a separate selection will be made at Dubai on 10th, 11th and 12th of March.
“The selection will be done by a panel consisting of well-known persons from the field of direction, production and acting and recommendations of any kind will not be entertained. The selection will be very impartial and transparent”, said Mammootty at the press conference.
They will start receiving applications from January 21, the day being the 104th birthday of Vaikkom Mohammed Basheer. The people behind the making of the movie also said that the attempt to bring talented artists to the cinema field is also a way of paying tribute to the great novelist on his birthday.
The selected artists will be given intensive training at Ernakulam for fifteen days to make them suitable for their respective roles, said Pramod Payyanoor.
Application with full size close-up photographs and proof of experience in acting must reach before January 30. The address to send the applications is as follows:
Living Arts and Aesthis Creations,
c/o Media Box Office,
28/630 A1, K.P.Vallan Road, Kadavanthra,Cochin 682020.
For Dubai: PO Box 11783, Dubai, UAE