Nahas Nazar, a native of Changanassery, began his journey into filmmaking like many aspirants, without a background or formal training in the craft. His pursuit of cinema started in Kochi as an assistant director, with his first experience assisting Rishi Sivakumar on Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti (2016). However, it was his association with director Khalid Rahman that truly shaped his approach to cinema.

Nahas wholeheartedly praises his mentor, saying, “Rahman ikka is someone who remains unshaken, even if a mountain were to collapse around him.” He then adds, “Having come from the school of Anwar Rasheed and Rajeev Ravi, he is a filmmaker who ensures his assistants are well-prepared to tackle any challenges that may arise during a shoot.”

Nahas’ directorial debut, a road trip comedy starring Asif Ali and Suraj Venjaramoodu, is all set to hit the theatres this Friday. As the filmmaker describes it, “Adios Amigo is about two friends who meet by chance and go on an unexpected journey full of humour and discovery. The story shows how their friendship grows and their lives change over two days as they travel from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram.”

Regarding his decision to make Adios Amigo his debut as an independent director, Nahas reveals that his sole intention was to create a good film for his first outing as the director. “I first came across this script by Thankam during its early drafts, we had worked together on Kettyolaanu Ente Malakha (2019).” It was after he completed work on Khalid’s Thallumaala (2022), that Thankam approached him to listen to a full narration of the revised script. “After hearing it, I was convinced that this should be my first film as a director, even though I knew it would be a huge responsibility. I was particularly impressed by the two main characters and their interactions,” he adds.