Choreographers Sumesh Sundar and Jishnudas on their viral dance moves in Amal Neerad’s ‘Bougainvillea’

Jyothirmayi in ‘Sthuthi’, the promo song from Amal Neerad’s Bougainvillea
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Bheeshma Parvam, a slick mafia story headlined by Mammootty and directed by Amal Neerad, had more to it than the actor’s swag and screen presence. Along with Sushin Shyam’s music and background score, there were the viral dance moves by choreographers Sumesh Sundar and Jishnudas. The duo is back in the limelight, again for an Amal Neerad movie, Bougainvillea, slated to release in theatres on October 17.

Choreographers Jishnudas (left) and Sumesh Sundar
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

‘Sthuthi’, the promo song of the movie picturised on Kunchacko Boban and Jyothirmayi, is trending on social media, clocking over 2.5 million views and counting. Sung by the film’s composer Sushin and Mary Ann Alexander, the song has been written by Vinayak Sasikumar, who also wrote the songs in Bheeshma Parvam.

Jyothirmayi, Amal’s partner, is not new to dancing, if her high-energy number ‘Chingamaasam’ from Meesha Madhavan and sensuous track ‘Osama’ from Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded are taken into account. Her look and swag in ‘Sthuthi’ have come in for praise. “She has tried something new and has done it with flair,” says Sumesh. Jishnu adds, “When the song came to us, we never expected her to be one of the artistes. It was exciting to work with her.”

The song uses hip-hop, house, whacking, and Afro styles. “We have fused the styles in such a way that it compliments the dark vibe of the song. The song is not your typical fast number, but we have used fast footwork and that has been appreciated,” Sumesh explains. There was a 10-day rehearsal session before the shoot.

Kunchacko Boban in ‘Sthuthi’, the promo song from Amal Neerad’s Bougainvillea
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Kunchacko Boban, the fabulous dancer that he is, is a treat to watch. “He has been our favourite. After Bheeshma Parvam, we worked in a movie with him but, unfortunately, the song could not be included in it when the movie was released. Since we got that song due to Amal ettan we had called him to thank him. That’s when he told us that he had plans to work with Chackochan [Kunchacko Boban] and us in a movie. More than a year later, he called us and gave us ‘Sthuthi’,” Sumesh says.

They point out that Amal loves to watch and talk about dance. “He keeps track of new dance videos. He showed us some videos as a reference and was happy with the choreography we came up with. Then it was left to us to make Chackochan and Jyothi ma’am do it,” they say.

Composer Sushin Shyam in ‘Sthuthi’, the  promo song from Amal Neerad’s Bougainvillea
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Jishnu says that when they heard the song and the lyrics, it took some time for them to figure out the choreography. “When you hear words like ‘Karthavinu sthuthi’ (Amen to the Lord) you don’t know what to do. But when you work with a director like Amal Neerad you have to come up with something different and out of the box. We worked on moves that went with the pace of the song. The energy had to be maintained. In fact some of them are minute steps, but done at a fast pace. Chackochan said that it was a first-of-its-kind experience for him. He attended the rehearsals and later shot the song with a hand injury,” he mentions.

The duo adds that since they worked with the same team of Bheeshma Parvam — Amal, Sushin, Vinayak, and cinematographer Anend C Chandran among others — they were comfortable during the shoot.

Friends since school, Sumesh and Jishnu run a dance studio in Thrissur, Myself and My Moves, which started as a dance community in 2016. Dancers from their studio have been featured in the song. “Sixteen of them have performed and five others assisted us,” says Sumesh. They run a YouTube channel (Myself and My Moves) featuring dance videos and it was one of those dance videos that caught the attention of Amal Neerad, who eventually called them to work in Bheeshma Parvam for the songs ‘Parudeesa’ and ‘Rathipushpam’.

Choreographers Sumesh Sundar (left) and Jishnudas
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Among the movies in their filmography are Paltu Janwar, Oru Thekkan Thallu Case, Anchakkakkollan, Anuragam, and Malayalee from India, some of which have been choreographed by Jishnu alone. “Since we have to run the studio as well, it is difficult for both of us to be away,” Sumesh says. Meanwhile, Jishnu won the Kerala State Film Award for Choreography for his work in Sulaikha Manzil.

Meanwhile they have worked in an upcoming dance-oriented movie the details of which have not been released yet.