When you finish watching web series Love under construction (Luke), you are left with a sweet affertaste. Director Vishnu Raghav’s love and nuances on life are the result of an attractive six-part series with an attractive story. His focus in detail in character arcs, conversations and performances stands out like his feature debut, VaishiA court room drama starring Twino Thomas and Krithi Suresh.

LukeNayak Vinod (Neeraj Madhav) is a working professional in Dubai and is fully prepared to build a house in Kerala. With the trauma of being homeless as a young boy, he is determined to fulfill the dream at any cost. Around the same time, he falls in love with smart, weak and accurate Gauri (Gauri Ji Kishan) in Dubai.

However, when the company closes her, Vinod returns home with her, planning to complete the construction of the house, registers her marriage and goes to Canada. Things are not employed and Vinod is caught for their relationship with the two families amidst obstacles in the construction of their home and protest. The story is spicy with others with the presence of Micinist cousin, Pappan (Aju Varghese), Nasi neighbor, and a clever contractor, GG (Anand Manmadhan).

Filmmaker Vishnu Ji Raghav | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The story of Vishnu tells Luke Was with her before starting shooting Vaishi And he planned it as a film. “The web series was not in circulation then. Therefore, since the script lasted for about three hours, I was forced to take out a lot of scenes and many characters were sidelined to shorten it for two hours. I was not happy. At the same time, I was in two minds about making a film because I was not sure whether the audience would accept it. When I heard that the hotstar was listening to stories. I pitched Luke And it was chosen. The best thing was that I could restore the parts I edited-an almost 50 minutes of content. ,

Inspired by real events

According to Vishnu, Luke Inspired by real people and real -life situations. “About 90% of the story is taken from the lives of different people I know, some cinematic freedom has been thrown into freedom. I have two friends who met in Dubai and later moved to Canada. There was another friend who lost his job at the same time when his marriage was fixed. I clubs those situations in Vinod’s life. Two of my friends met when they had to hand over a phone to me. I made my character in Pappan (Aju Varghese) and developed it as a misconception to create a struggle in the story, ”he explains.

In place of Vishnu Raghav and Neeraj Madhav Love under construction
Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

To make his dreams home for Vinod’s struggles, Vishnu says that he had examples around him. “I met many people who have built their homes, who are building one and who are planning. There is enough material for another web chain! ,

After doing enough research for each character, Vishnu says that the writing process was smooth and organic. He said, “I did not need to create a tremendous situation,” they say.

Talk to him about the nature in your dialogues, Vishnu gets excited. “I get a high when someone says that because I always make extra efforts in writing dialogues. I want to keep it as real as possible. ,

Neeraj Madhav and Gauri Ji Kishan in Love under construction
Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Vishnu says when Luke The concept was conceptualized as a film, he planned to put an A-lister as Vinod. “I had to look for other options when the format changed, especially when I had to finish it within the deadline placed by the streaming partner. Neeraj initially had doubts about doing a web series, although he preferred the subject. I was able to convince him. I planned to put a newcomer as Gauri. I was not sure if that actor would be able to pull the acute scenes, especially towards an end where he is standing against his father. In this way I did zero on Gauri, ”he says. When the dynamics of their relationship changes, they are happy to see their loving courtship and mature performance.

Neeraj Madhav and Aju Varghese Love under construction
Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

A group of supportive actors also steal the show, including Kiran Pathambaran (as Gauri’s father), Saheer Mohammad and Manjusri Nair (as Vinod’s parents), Thankue Mohan (mother of Pappan), and N Jamla Sem (a government clerk and love interest of Pappan). “These actors have always got limited screen time in films. I wanted to give them space and wanted to remove the best of them, ”says Vishnu.

This series is set in Thiruvananthapuram, which, in a way, was important for the story, he says. “While Vinod’s family is from the capital, Gauri is from Kottayam. When the marriage is fixed, the place matters a lot for many families. In LukeThis is a cause of stress of stress between the two families and I was thrilled about using geography, which is the point of controversy in the story. ,

After being dubbed in both the feature film and the OTT format, Vishnu says it took time to be used later. “In films, you are only accountable to the producer. In a web chain, on the other hand, there is a complete universe for work monitoring and I was not familiar with that process. I had to hold the middle ground and did it. ,

The biggest challenge was to bring to a clifhenger in each episode. “All this is not easy. For me, it is a takeaway that people used to watch episodes on a stretch.”

Vishnu, an engineer, who turned a director as an actor with short films, is currently planning his next feature film.

Prem under construction is streaming on Gehotstar.