The only time very young short-film maker Sanath Sugathan’s age shows is when he asks one to rate his film. And in the way he expresses his happiness on hearing the grade.
Nothing about his nine minute 51 second film, Apologize , hints at its 16 year-old maker – scenarist, editor and cinematographer. The aim of the film, which was uploaded on Youtube on Children’s Day, November 14, he says, “is to create awareness about that aspect of smoking that does not get as much attention – passive smoking. People talk about it but they don’t really grasp the fallout of passive smoking and how it affects people, especially kids.”
The film shows a chain-smoking father whose smoking causes his son’s cancer and how the guilt-riddled father is unable to undo his actions. Sans dialogues, the music (by Sidhartha Pradeep) builds the tempo for the action. The tautly-edited film, shot in natural light, conveys the message without words and gimmicks.
The technicians, Sidhartha and Shefin Mayan (sound mixing) are older friends of his. A native of Paripally near Kollam, Sanath is a Plus One student of Arts at Christuraj Higher Secondary School, Kollam, and has won several prizes at school competitions. His parents are K.R. Sugathan and Lekha who have no ‘cinema connections’ but support him all the way, he says. The film has been produced by his aunt, his father’s sister, who, aware of Sanath’s passion offered to produce Apologize .
Sanath’s love affair with filmmaking started in Class 8 when he was making presentations as school projects. That is when he discovered the fun of films; this is his first attempt at a short film. He has earlier worked on a music album.
He made the film, over two days, during his summer vacation after Class 10. He shot the film using a Canon 600D camera. His teacher has been the Net from where he learnt the various aspects of making a film. “For instance, online tutorials helped me with lessons on editing.” Besides an interest in films, he designs posters for short films. His other passion is photography; his Facebook page boasts a number of photographs which belie his years.
About the film not having any dialogues he says, “There would have been the problem of continuity and I did not want to get into that with this film.” He is already working on his next project. The making of the film preceded shot discussions with Disney James (who essayed the ‘father’). Abin Dileep as the son has done a good job.
Congratulate him on the effort and he lists out the aspects he feels could have been better. He is onto his next project in which, he says, he will make up for the deficiencies of his debut effort. Cinema is his long-term plan, his profession, he says with clarity. And of how he plans to go about with his plan he says, “I want to get into the National Institute of Design (NID) and then to the film institute in Pune.”
