Johnkutty’s route to the top of the game has been a story of the slow and steady winning the race. The film editor’s knack for selecting the best frames and omitting the rest has kept him in good stead. A look at the pick of his flicks that includes hits such as Pulimurugan , Odiyan , Amar Akbar Anthony , 7th Day and Memories bears ample testimony. With back-to-back releases in the same month, the latest being the Dulquer Salmaan-starrer Oru Yamandan Premakadha and Mera Naam Shaji , the 39-year-old is on a high.
“My tryst with moving images started with editing wedding shoots during my pre-degree days. I quickly became adept with Adobe Premiere (video editing software),” says Johnkutty over phone from a studio in Kochi where he’s busy working on upcoming movie Margam Kali directed by Sreejith Vijayan.
With no formal training in editing, he says it was his proficiency with the software that later landed him at the editing table of Asianet News’ daily series Munshi during the record-breaking show’s launch in 2000. However, after about an year, he joined the Kerala State Film Development Corporation where he became part of several tele-serials and documentaries. His stint there also helped him gain an opportunity to work with Toonz Animation for Cartoon Network’s The Adventures of Tenali Raman . “I learnt a great deal of professionalism from my experience with Tenali Raman . The meticulous effort that had gone into into the animation frames were so much more intricate that video frames,” recollects the Karunagapalli native.
But it was at the Chitranjali studio in the city where he “seriously cut his teeth in proper film editing” as he worked with several mainstream film editors. Getting under the wings of acclaimed editor Mahesh Narayanan, with whom the protégé worked in movies such as Pokkiri Raja , Karyasthan , Traffic etc., furthered his learning curve.
Johnkutty remembers with a laugh how his venture to turn an independent film editor with Mayamohini almost slipped between the cup and the lip. “The shoot was nearly wrapped up when I was suddenly bed-ridden with chicken pox. Though disheartened, I did not want to delay the film’s release and requested co-scriptwriter Udaykrishna to rope in another editor. But the team reposed faith in me. After sending me the script and the rushes, the crew set up an editing console at my house. After recuperation, I showed them portions of my work. The response was a big thumbs-up,” he says.
Asked to pick his favourite work, he heartily says “I love them all”, while listing Memories , 7thDay , Paavada and Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan as holding special significance for the creative freedom they offered. “I think Pulimurugan stands out. The response to the film was overwhelming,” Johnkutty adds. He says working on Oru Yamandan Premakadha was “fun”, while describing Odiyan as “a mix of class and mass.” His other upcoming works include Dileep-starrer Jack Daniel and a yet-untitled project with Shane Nigam in the lead.
Often having to juggle many projects, Johnkutty, however, makes it a point to finish a movie before moving on to the next. Not being a stickler for a static work space also helps. “If I’m also involved in spot editing, I often move with the crew. Otherwise, I work from home, sometimes from studios.” In an era of digital editing, mastery over software plays a vital role and Johnkutty says learning is a constant for him, with new cutting-edge techniques ever being developed.
So, is the process of film editing an art or a technique? “Certainly both. For the most pleasing results, they should meet mid-way,” he says. “Sometimes, you feel a scene has come out really well, but as an editor, I should not be carried away as I have to look at a film in its totality. It works best when the frames seamlessly transition to form an aesthetic, organic whole,” Johnkutty explains. He certainly makes the cut!
