Actor Sanif talks about his debut film Velleppam

Debutant director Praveen Raj Pookkadan’s upcoming film Velleppam has a healthy mix of experienced actors and relative newcomers as part of the cast. The film, which has Akshay Radhakrishnan and Noorin Shereef in the lead, also has Roma returning to Mollywood after almost three years. Actor Sanif, who will be making his debut with the film, tells us how working with experienced actors helped him in the movie and how it was to shoot while adhering to the Covid-19 protocols. “It’s a story set in Thrissur’s Vellepangadi, told through love and friendships. It’s a small movie and Akshay plays the lead. I play one of his four good friends in the film,” says Sanif. The lockdown was announced in March when the team had just a few more portions left to complete. “So, we had to halt the shooting for about six months and getting back to the sets later was a totally different experience. The number of personnel on the sets were half the usual. Most of the crew was wearing PPE kits, there were sanitisers and masks on the sets. We had to eat in paper plates that we had to dispose of ourselves. It was different but we also understood that it was for everyone’s safety,” says the debutant.