Kamal Jee was in Class Eight when he decided to ‘run away.’ In his school uniform, his bag slung on his shoulder, Kamal boarded a train to Chennai, chasing his celluloid dreams. There was a hartal the day Kamal reached Chennai. There were hordes of policemen moving around the railway station.
And Kamal was whisked away by the police along with a few others and put in D6 Anna Nagar police station jail.
“My cinema dreams turned into a nightmare in a jiffy. Some LTTE issue sparked off the hartal and I had landed right in the middle of the action. We were living in Valaparai (Tamil Nadu) where my father was an estate manager and I studied at an estate school all of which did not help my case. My father, when alerted, came to Chennai and I was taken back,” remembers Kamal, who has made a name for himself as an experimental short film maker and an innovative ad film maker.
Kamal’s life in the estate, at the school was quiet, non-spectacular. The Canon Video 8 gifted to him by an unlce when he was barely 13 sparked an interest in making films. And soon Kamal had decided that films, especially cinematography, would be his future. Immediately after schooling Kamal opted for specialised courses that would lead him to his goal. Kamal secured a diploma in digital photography and cinematography, direction and scriptwriting and completed a course in editing from Bombay Films Division.
“For sometime I worked with my uncle, who owns a studio in Ernakulam, and learned still photography. The turning point was joining noted ad-film maker Sleeba Varghese. In the eight years I was with him I worked in numerous projects. I assisted him is corporate advertisement films, which included some prestigious international campaigns like those for Vogue, Honda City etc. I did my first independent film on the ship, ‘Kavaratti’ for Lakshadweep Administration. Things were finally moving for me.”
At a time when production costs for Malayalam films were going through the roof, Kamal stepped in introducing digital cameras. “There was a lot of opposition to it. But there was also a lot of curiosity about how these cameras worked. I rented out a Sony F 900 R and Viper Cam with which the film Plus Two was shot. Now, the industry has realised how cost effective these cameras are.”
Armed with years of experience in the field of advertisement films and an uncanny knack with cameras Kamal launched into his own project.
“I did a series of 10 documentaries, scripted and directed by Gopi Mangalth. It was called Pathu Koottam . I was producer and cinematographer for this project that was based on 10 interesting people in and around Kochi. Along with this I worked as cinematographer in many other documentaries and short films. In between, I started a production house Infocuz Films working on ad-films and telefilms in India and the UAE.”
By now Kamal had set his sights on the big screen. In 2010, he wrote and directed his first short film – Jennifer . “Perhaps for the first time this short film had posters, teasers and a trailer. It was shot entirely on a Canon EOS 7D. Jennifer won recognition at the Kerala State Children’s Educational Film Festival (2010), organised by State Institute of Educational Technology (SIET). This was huge encouragement.”
Kamal went on to make a series of short films such as Fakebook , Deflower , Metro Matinee and Sin that have gone viral.
“The film Sin is in Tamil, my first in the language. Except for Metro Matinee , which is very popular on Youtube, I have also done the camerawork for all the films. Sin will soon be telecast on Puthuyugam channel hopefully at the end of this month. And this is the only film for which I got a payment,” says Kamal with a broad smile.
Some of his long time associates, like his editor E.S. Sooraj, have already made their way into feature films. The thirty-six-year old is now waiting to take that leap. “I have got a script ready. The lead character fits Dulquer Salman perfectly. I’m waiting to narrate the story to him. Some of my friends in the industry have offered to help. I’m sure it will happen soon.”
