Kuttram Kadithal has already made its mark. Last year, apart from being celebrated at the Mumbai Film Festival and bagging the Best Tamil Film Award at the Chennai International Film Festival, it was also the only Tamil film screened at Indian Panorama, Goa. This year, the film won the National Award. And tomorrow, after much ado, the film will finally hit the silver screen.
“We were waiting for the right time to release it,” says debut director G. Bramma. While Kaaka Muttai , he explains, was conceived, written and shot to be first released in film festivals, he had no such plans for Kuttram Kadithal . It was meant purely for a theatre-going audience. So why festivals? “It was pure strategy to help market the film better,” he explains. Those who watched the film – about a single incident that connects and affects different characters – liked it. But they wondered if it would work at the box-office, since the film has its basis in a social context. “That’s when producer J Sathish Kumar realised that we would find an audience at festivals,” says Bramma.
A former theatre artist, Bramma believes that a film should not only have content, but also work aesthetically to appeal to a universal audience. Because, unlike a play, a film, he says, can stand the test of time and be shared with a global audience, which is what lured him into filmmaking. His work in theatre and short films connected him with his current cast, including lead actor, Pavel Navageethan of Madras fame.
The two met in 2002 – the year Bramma left college, and Pavel started. “I trained students in mime, street and stage plays. My favourite pick then was Pavel, because he wouldn’t just do his role, but everyone else’s as well,” laughs Bramma.
Pavel grins. “ Aarva kolarru ,” he explains.
While Pavel has made his mark in films through his on-screen roles, his heart, he says, lies in direction. Since college, the call of the two roles left him torn. But when Bramma asked him to make a choice, he chose filmmaking, hands-down. For eight long years, he stayed behind the camera. And then, Madras happened. “Director Pa Ranjith is a fellow filmmaker and friend. I thought he’d called me to put me in touch with a producer, so I went, armed with several scripts. But instead, he offered me a role,” laughs Pavel.
After Madras , he says he received four offers for similar antagonist roles, but decided against it. “I want to be a filmmaker. So if I’m going to act, I’d rather choose a role I really like, or one that challenges me,” says Pavel.
Bramma, on the other hand, conceived the story for his debut film, only after he decided he wanted to be a filmmaker. His team, composed of many theatre actors he has worked with, helped piece the film together. “When we started out, everyone on set was a filmmaker except me,” laughs Bramma. Be it Pavel, actor Radhika Prasidhha, lyricist Gerald Dhirav, associate director C K Surendra Thanu Murthy, cameraman S Manikandan or editor C S Prem, everyone had dabbled in filmmaking. Everyone, except their star act – 12-year-old Ajay – a stage actor from a government home. “The whole film is a synergic labour of love,” says the debut director.
