The vicar of film field
Fr Varghese Lal has 20 short films to his credit and he shows how priesthood and filmmaking go together.
For Fr Varghese Lal, cinema is a passion and a medium to communicate with people. A priest of Malankara Orthodox Church, he started filmmaking in 2006, at a time when short films were not all that common. Thirst for Life was his first short film. He was pursuing his theological studies at Kottayam Old Seminary then. “It was a kind of musical,” says the priest, who serves as vicar at a church in Kunnamkulam. He is settled in Kottayam with his family.
So far, he has taken 20 short films on various subjects. Each of his works carries a social angle. If You Turn is about alcohol addiction, Homework deals with parenting and Mazhakinavu is about nature conservation. “During my seminary days, I spent some time in North India as part of field work. Water scarcity is high in those terrains. In Kerala, we have adequate resources but we are not taking care of them. We need to preserve the resources we have. I took Mazhakinavu to spread this thought,” he says.
His other works include Bhoomiyil Oru Swargam, which is about family and relationships and Balapadam that takes a look at the kidnapping of children. His recent work Tag checks various troubles social media bring to the life of teenagers. Actors like Vijayaraghavan, Anju Kurian and Neena Kurup play significant roles in that. “It is an attempt to make the young generation aware of traps on social media. It is also a campaign against suicide.”
Quiz him about this rare combination of priesthood and cinema, he replies, “I am interested in films. Also, I know the power of visual language. It is the best medium to reach out to the current generation that spends a major share of their time on the internet.” And, he gives an example from the Bible. “Jesus, during his days, communicated to the mass through short stories as that was the effective medium then. If he lived in this era, he would have used videos instead of short stories. Besides, it is a creative piece,” explains Fr Varghese who passed MA Cinema and Television securing the third rank. Later, he did M. Phil from the School of Letters in the subject ‘Film and Time’. Right now, he is pursuing Phd in the subject ‘Cinema and media’.
As expected, there were criticism from certain quarters. But, he wanted to live his dream. “But, I had immense support from the Bishop, His Holiness Mar Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II, who is the Catholicos now. My dream was to study in Pune Film Institute. But, I couldn’t do that as I had responsibilities in the church,” says the Father, who wants to make feature films too.