Enjoying the idyllic charm, sights and scenes of a sleeping village, young filmmaker Anuj Ramachandran grew up like any other commoner. Once he realised the call of his soul lies in the world of films, he just obeyed, holding close to his heart everything that shaped him to be the man he is today. Now when Anuj is 10 short films old, he basks in the glory of clinching many a gold. His two-minute short Let’s Recycle was the best in the MTV conducted short film contest ‘The Junkyard Project Film Festival’ in May. This was soon followed by another golden feather, a second runner up for his Flying Fantasy in the Dark Fantasy Choco Fills 60-second short film competition conducted nationwide.
Deep down, Anuj is still that small town boy of Karette in Thiruvananthapuram. Odd though it might seem, this humble countryside is the backdrop of most of his films. Those films that fetched national acclaim to the ones that were cheered and clapped in his friend’s circle are set in this pristine village. When he recalls his tryst with miniature films now, Anuj has his destiny being tested in yet another platform. His latest work, 360 degree is contesting in the Royal Stag India Mobile Film Festival. Such an amazing craft is this panoramic film taken in a Samsung Galaxy A8 mobile phone. “I keep things minimal. 360 degree aside, all other films were taken in the video mode of DSLR cameras (used for photography).”
A still from Flying Fantasy
“As what you have seen in it, lighting paraphernalia is hardly there. Everything is shot in daylight. Only twice did I go for lighting equipment when those films had to be shot at night,” Anuj explains. The most expensive film of Anuj was shot for Rs 5,500! Anuj, an M.Phil from the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts in the University of Kerala, has an active circle of friends since college days who stand by him through thick and thin. The banner of most of his films is hence Kanal Samskarika Vedi, an alumni collective of the Centre.
“The storylines usually come up from our group discussions. My friends always have some novel idea to suggest and we work on it. Hence, I need not look elsewhere to find the cast and crew,” says the 29-year- old. Well before enrolling for an M.Phil, in the same department Anuj pursued a three-month certificate course in performing arts under the tutelage of theatre veteran Vayala Vasudevan Pillai, what could be called a decisive turning point. Then he went on to do a post graduation in MFA from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Ernakulam before landing the role of an assistant director on the sets of Vinayan’s Yakshiyum Njanum.
From there, he drifted from one television channel to another donning different caps, till deciding to engross fully in short filmmaking. His post graduation film Id - The Darker Side itself won the National Film Promotion Council award and the Don Bosco award. Anuj never finds short film industry unglamorous. Recalling an incident, he shares a close encounter with its struggles, fun and possibilities. It was a daring act for Anuj and friends to contest in a 24-hour short filmmaking contest organised by Revathy Kalamandir Film Academy and a media house in Thiruvananthapuram.
“The challenge was to make a film within 24 hours of receiving the subject — ‘fear’. Actually my latest film Oru Rathri suited the topic, but I had ethical concerns. Things were soon slipping out of our control and we sat together until night to find a new theme. The deadline for submission was 10 am the next day. Finally we came across an idea, shot it overnight, did the postproduction jobs and presented it in the stipulated time,” he rewinds. Not just one, that film, Mukhalakshanam bagged three awards for best film in audience poll, best director and actor.
What’s next? “I understood that my idiom doesn’t fit the bill of mainstream filmmaking. Perhaps this is why I have inhibitions to return to the once-trodden route. I have two scripts at ready and when situations turn in our favour, I will make a film out of it,” he hopes.
