The idea for cinematographer-director Santosh Sivan’s latest Malayalam film Jack N’ Jill birthed from his conversations with friends, especially about the growth of artificial intelligence. “They form a cross-section of society, which includes scientists in NASA, doctors and engineers spread across the world. We were talking about the past, present and future, and how AI was everywhere. Look at Google chechi ( laughs) who we ask things about every day,” says Santosh.
With films such as Ananthabhadram, Urumi and Before the Rains, Santosh Sivan’s body of work in Malayalam cinema has mostly been on period drama.
“I did not want to make another ‘epic’ now. I wanted to make a contemporary film, set in the now. Especially after the pandemic when people are not in the mood for something serious. I wanted to make a fun film,” Santosh explains. Starring Manju Warrier, Kalidas Jayaram, Soubin Shahir and Aju Varghese, Jack N’ Jill has a dash of everything, he says, adding that the film is simultaneously releasing in Tamil, in which Yogi Babu reprises Soubin Shahir’s role.
