Nahas Hidhayath has had the finest Onam of his life. The debut director is on a excessive with his movie, RDX: Robert Dony Xavier, taking part in to full homes throughout Kerala and outdoors the State. “When the viewers burst into applause after the first day first present, it was a dream-come-true expertise. My struggles grew to become insignificant at that second,” says Nahas, who needed to shelve his first movie, Aaravam, after a few days of taking pictures.
RDX, an action-packed entertainer with tropes to draw the household viewers, arrived at theatres as an underdog, pitted towards two star-driven releases – Dulquer Salmaan’s King of Kotha and Nivin Pauly’s Ramachandra Boss & Co. The movie, bankrolled by Sophia Paul, and starring younger weapons Shane Nigam, Antony Varghese and Neeraj Madhav has clearly raced previous the two biggies.
Nahas Hidhayath, director of the Malayalam film, RDX
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The story revolves round Robert (Shane), his elder sibling, Dony (Antony) and their buddy, Xavier (Neeraj), all skilled in martial arts. They have left behind their darkish previous to steer a peaceable life. But their lives take a flip when a bunch of criminals enter their lives.
Nahas says that there have been pre-release jitters as a result of the movie was at the receiving finish of cyber assaults and trolls ever since the posters, songs and trailer have been launched. “There was a lot negativity that I used to be apprehensive. But Ma’am [Sophia Paul] was unruffled by it. She stated that our movie would get its viewers,” says Nahas.
Nahas Hidhayath, director of the Malayalam film, RDX
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The movie bumped into a controversy
Where it began
Nahas had moved to Kochi from his house at Kanjirappally in Kottayam district, after commencement. “I didn’t have the braveness to inform my orthodox household that I used to be making an attempt to get into movies. So I lied to them that I used to be doing a six-month course after which I’d get a job. In the meantime, I used to be busy assembly administrators whereas doing a small-time job to make ends meet.”
An interplay with Ganesh Raj [who went on to direct Aanandam and Pookkalam] was the turning level. “He was working with Vineeth Sreenivasan at that point. Thanks to him, I obtained a probability to fulfill Basil Joseph. But the downside was that I had not directed even a brief movie until then. So when chettan [Basil] requested me about that, I used to be stumped. I made a brief inside 4 days, with the assist of my employer and buddies. Basil chettan was impressed and took me in as an assistant in Godha. Otherwise, my movie faculty has been YouTube.”
Then got here Aaravam, his debut movie with Antony in the lead, which was shelved after eight days of shoot, attributable to the pandemic and lockdown restrictions. “I used to be heartbroken as a result of I will need to have approached over 20 producers for the undertaking,” he provides.
Nevertheless, life took a new flip when two of his brief movies, 14 Days of Love and Colour Padam, went viral on social media in 2021. “Eventually I obtained the probability to take my story to Sophia Ma’am. It was a big-budget film that includes a well-known face. However, she was not satisfied about the viability of the undertaking and requested me if I had one other story. That was RDX. It is a fictionalised model of an incident that occurred in my faculty. My buddies Shabas Rasheed and Adarsh Sukumaran got here on board as scriptwriters. Shabas was in Aaravam’s course crew, whereas Adarsh had auditioned for a position.”
Anbariv onboard
As a fan of motion motion pictures, Nahas wished standout motion sequences in RDX by Anbariv — twins Anbumani and Arivumani. The duo’s filmography contains KGF, Kaithi, Sarpatta Parambarai and Vikram.
Nahas Hidhayath (centre) with stunt masters, Anbariv (Anbumani and Arivumani)
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“Our producer was in shock as a result of their price range is equal to, or greater than, the price range of a Malayalam movie! But I instructed her that I used to be keen to compromise on any facet of the movie apart from the stunt masters. When it involves executing motion, we seek advice from the Hindi, Tamil or Telugu industries. I didn’t wish to try this in RDX. Anbariv understood my imaginative and prescient and the feelings wanted for every scene.”
Twin blast
Anbariv – twin brothers Anbumani and Arivumani – began their profession as stunt masters in Malayalam, with Amal Neerad’s Bachelor Party.
They gained the National Film Award for Best Stunt Choreographer for the Kannada movie Okay.G.F: Chapter 1.
Their upcoming massive tasks embody Vijay’s Leo, Prabhas’ Salaar and Project Okay, which additionally stars Kamal Haasan and Amitabh Bachchan.
The movie has six well-executed battle sequences which have are available in for reward. “I knew that getting younger actors to do motion could be liked by the viewers. Also, when there is a purpose for the battle, folks will settle for it. The actors have been made to do totally different kinds of motion (for instance, Neeraj is a nunchuck grasp) and that labored massive time. They skilled laborious for it.”
Veteran actor-martial artist Babu Antony performs a key position, albeit a small one. “It was the producer’s concept to have him. I used to be reluctant to strategy him as a result of he had only one battle scene in the film. But he was okay with it. It was overwhelming to see how the theatre erupted with pleasure in that scene. Babu chettan is additionally comfortable as a result of now his household is aware of the recognition he loved for his motion roles as soon as upon a time.”
Nahas Hidhayath on the units of RDX with Shane Nigam
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Nahas is happy that the villains of RDX, most of them new faces, are additionally being talked about. “If the hero needs to be celebrated, the villain needs to be sturdy. Since I wished to provide one thing new for the viewers I went for faces that aren’t acquainted for the viewers. All of them are buddies ready for a break in the business. Vishnu Agasthya, the principal antagonist [Paulson], is an incredible artist who was determined for a breakout position. All his pent-up frustration got here out in his efficiency.”
Nahas provides that the movie’s success has a lot to do with his crew. “Be it music (Sam CS), modifying (Chaman Chakko), digital camera (Alex J Pulickal) or costumes (Dhanya Balakrishnan), every of them gave their finest. They all wished the movie to do nicely.”
RDX is working in theatres.