Ottappalam has become a second house for Dileep, Kavya Madhavan and cameraman Azhzkappan for they were continuously shooting in that location. Dileep could not attend the wedding of Samyuktha Varma and Biju Menon. He did not attend either the wedding of Poornima Mohan and Indrajith. He was busy. He sent Manju Warrier as his envoy. Manju who never goes out without Dileep attended both the marriages. After completing work in 'KALAYANA RAMAN' and a guest role in 'MIZHI RANDILUM' Dileep has joined 'THILAKKAM'. The shooting of 'MIZHI RANDILUM' was at Ottappalam. When Ranjith finished shooting Jayaraj arrived with his unit for shooting his 'THILAKKAM'.

Dileep spent almost a month in Ottappalam shuttling between the location and Alwaye, his hometown, in weekends. Another important person who is camping in Ottappalam for the last three months is Cinematographer Azhakzppan. He did camera work for 'MIZHI RANDILUM' and now is working for 'THILAKKAM'.

Kavya Madhavan was also in Ottappalam for long. She did a double role as Bhadra and Bhama, the twin sisters in 'MIZHI RANDILUM'. Dileep did a double role in KUNHIKKOONAN and Kavya his heroine in the super hit MEESA MADHAVAN followed suit. When Ranjith finished his film Kavya shifted to the sets of THILAKKAM.

Jayaraj is tells a story of a village not changed a bit from its olden days in 'THILAKKAM'. With age-old village shops and country roads and raw characters the story takes off with humor and small rivalries. Jayaraj has deviated from his 'KARUNAM', 'SANTHAM' kind of films this time to a commercial venture with Dileep in the lead. He badly wants to get back to the commercial circuit. "This was planned a couple of years ago.' Jayaraj informs.

It is not the star value of dileep that he now decided to cast him. He had thought about casting Dileep as early as 2000 at the time of planning the project. Dileep became a hot property only after the success of MEESA MADHAVAN. But Jayaraj did not get the dates of Dileep for he was committed to a number of small time producers then. He was just coming up and Mohanlal and Mammootty were not available to small budget filmmakers. Any way Jayaraj did get Dileep at the right time.

The part of Dileep is not revealed by any in the set. Once the story is discussed it was hijacked and turned into a quickie by smart directors and scriptwriters. So everybody makes it a point not to disclose it till the end of shooting schedule.

One can see Dileep in a Bermuda and loitering around the sets. He plays the robinhood of the village. Harisree Asokan and Cochin Haneefa are the other actors present in the location for the shooting. Haneefa wants to rush back to Silent valley from where he came. The shooting of VELLITHIRA by Bhadran is continuing there. Cochin Haneefa has an important role in VELLITHIRA. Haneefa is playing a role of local thug in THILAKKAM.

He has done quite a number of roles in this genre. One recalls the role of Hydrose in the most celebrated hit KIREEDAM the Mohanlal- Sibi Malayail film. Here Haneefa is Mundur bhaskaran. The attire is same as that of Hydrose in KIREEDAM. Wearing a sando baniyan and a handkerchief tied around the neck, Mundur Bhaskaran walks the country roads in Mundur, the village portrayed in the film, brandishing a small knife and shouting as he surveys either side of the road. He thrashes anybody comes in front of him.

Harisree Asokan takes up the role of a tailor who specializes in pants that has become a trend in the remote village. He is the only one who passed eighth standard in the village. He has mentioned that in his name board in front the tailor shop.

The present trend in Malayalam movies it seems is to tell the story of some characters who inhabit a remote village where civilization has not peeped a bit. The main role will be that of a village thief or an invalid person invariably handled by Dileep. This is exactly what Lal Jose did in his MEESA MADHAVAN.

How long this narrative style will last is yet to be seen.

However Jayaraj pins his hopes on Dileep. The story is by Leela Krishnan and Rafi Macartin writes script. Kaithapram Viswanathan scores music.