“I see cinema as a hyper-realistic medium,” says director Mysskin. From ‘ Chithiram Pesuthadi ’, ‘ Nandalala ’ and ‘ Pisasu ’ to ‘ Onayum Attukuttiyum ’, his style of filmmaking stands out. “For me, filmmaking is like childbirth. For all stakeholders including the audience, it is like going through an intense process. I don’t stick to any template. I make films with utmost sincerity,” he says.
Mysskin is currently working on ‘ Savarakathi ’, a plot that revolves around a barber who is a habitual liar but a good-hearted person. The story takes a turn when he meets an anti-social, who had never lied in his life. “I got the spark from a real life barber Pitchai whom I know from childhood. He opens his mouth only to tell lies,” he says.
The director has also signed Vishal for his other project ‘ Thuppararivalan ’ a story about a private detective. “For long, I wanted to do a film with Vishal. The archetype of a detective is something I wanted to explore. Detectives are so popular in our culture. Take for instance, thupparaiyum Sambhu . I consider Birbal and Thenali Raman as detectives, as they are genius in their own stand, a sensible mind and the film is an attempt to see life from their point of view,” says Mysskin.
But what kindled the creative urge in him? “Till the age of 20, I never realised the purpose of life. But knowingly or unknowingly my keen observations stimulated the creator in me to come out. For instance, at the age of six I stepped out of my home and stayed with a gypsy family for three days. I used to frequent to the Big Top to see how a buffoon is in his real life. I was never a couch potato, I love to travel and would like to live a life of a bird,” he says.
The dilemma of ‘what next’ made him choose several assignments but he returned empty handed. “As a salesman I have sold everything from transformers to undergarments and failed miserably in all the jobs. One day, I was whiling away time at home, looking up at the ceiling, at the empty white space. Suddenly, I was struck by the spark of coming to cinema.”
“I watch films sincerely. I like Kathavarayan , Kaithi Kannayiram and Sridhar’s movies. I identify myself with movies that are intense,” he says. For instance, Nandalala portrayed a journey of a mentally challenged man, someone almost like a child and another kid in search of their mothers. Gradually, it turned out to be a road movie. “No body would have observed the road like me. I saw it from different angles. I stood in a corner, rolled down and in what may look bizarre, I even licked the road to get a better feel of it. I was on the road for 82 days,” he says.
For Mysskin, each film is an outcome of the dialogue between the conscious and the subconscious mind. He travels deep into the subconscious mind and explores life with greater freedom. He gets to the shooting spot only with the screenplay blueprint and looks for on-the-spot inspirations. “I look for something right there, it may be a tree or flowers or a stream. I transfer that surprise element onto the screen without any deviation and I am immensely satisfied when that fetches desired results,” he says.
At every given opportune moment he improvises as he feels that improvisation enlivens the script. Even with the film Chitiram Pesuthadi , he wanted to do a love story with a rowdy as a hero. It would have been just another film had he went along the expected lines of hero uniting with the heroine but Mysskin took the untrodden path and made the heroine’s father visit a prostitute’s house. When the girl comes to know about her father, she understands the bitter reality of life. For Mysskin, the process of filmmaking is like going into a trance.
A voracious reader and lover of psychological literature, Mysskin always tries to find answers through his films. “When I decided to do a ghost story, I wanted to break the template. I saw the ghost as an angel. The film Pisasu is all about that. The paranormal is a highly unexplored subject and I have given a psychological interpretation. Indirectly the film is a comment on capital punishment,” he says.
Mysskin loves to write and has penned an anthology with writer Prabhanjan and now has come up a book ‘ Onayum Attukuttiyum – Oru Thiraikaviyam ’, where he talks about his take on films and life.
