Jayaram's next is Thiruvambady Thamban

Director M Padmakumar, who has made some notable films like Vaasthavam, Vargam, Parunthu and Shikkaar, has teamed up with Jayaram to make Thiruvambady Thamban.

The film, scripted by S Suresh Babu, hits the cinemas this weekend.

The film is a story of a Christian family in Thrissur. The Thiruvambady family is one of 64 families specially invited by the erstwhile ruler of Cochin, Sakthan Thampuran, to do business in his kingdom.

The 'karanavar' of the current generation is Thiruvambady Mathan Tharakan (Jagathy Sreekumar). His son is Thiruvambady Thamban Tharakan, played by Jayaram.

Though it is a Christian household, their culture is closely associated with the Hindu temples. Their main interest is related to the temple elephants and the ornaments connected with various celebrations involving elephants.

There is also Nedumudi Venu, who plays Jayaram's uncle. The funny incidents connected with the three make the first half interesting.

They go to the Sonepur fair to purchase the elephants and on the way back an unprecedented incident occurs which takes the story in a different direction. The effort of the son to save the life of his father is the main focus in the second half.

Kannada actor Haripriya plays the heroine. The cast also includes Kishore, Kalabhavan Mani and Janardhanan.

Thiruvambady Thamban is being produced by Alexander John under the banner of Jini Cinema. The cinematographer is Manoj Pillai and the music director is Ouseppachan.

Jagathy Sreekumar was returning from shooting Thiruvambady Thamban when he met with a serious road accident, which has left him bedridden. How much has it affected the film?

"We were planning to do a song sequence in Madurai, which we decided not to shoot after his accident. We have changed the storyline a bit as a result. Though his accident hasn't affected the shooting much, the incident has left us really shocked and we hope that he gets back to health soon," says Padmakumar.

"Thiruvambady Thamban has a big canvas with quite a few locations and as a director, it is a challenging storyline to narrate, which makes it interesting," he adds.