(L-R) Madhoo, Lakshmi and Santhy in a still from ‘Sweet Kaaram Coffee’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
After two thrillers — Suzhal: The Vortex and Vadhandhi: The Fable of Velonie — and the romance anthology Modern Love Chennai, Prime Video is back into the feel-good zone with Sweet Kaaram Coffee releasing this week. Created by Reshma Ghatala and directed by Bejoy Nambiar, Krishna Marimuthu and Swathi Raghuraaman, the series features Lakshmi, Madhoo and Santhy Balachandran as women from different generations teaming up for a road trip.
Excerpts from the conversation:
Bejoy, you’ve done silent films, bilinguals, anthologies and series. Is content being unique an important criterion and does streaming as a medium lend to it?
Bejoy Nambiar: It’s always the story that excites you. An opportunity to tell the story of three women on a road trip is something I couldn’t let go of. It’s never about the format, length or the medium. OTT has opened up avenues not just for creators but also for audiences. Earlier, we were restricted to film and TV but now, after the advent of streaming, so many new formats like anthologies have come up. Storytelling has found more avenues and audiences are spoilt for choice. I think it’s a win-win situation.
Lakshmi, we’ve seen you in several films with strong women characters like ‘Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal’ (1977) and ‘Samsaram Adhu Minsaram’ (1986). Do you find the women-fronted stories today to be different from those from earlier?
Lakshmi: I don’t really see a major difference. It comes down to saying stories from that particular time period. It’s like how the fashion sense of college-going girls has evolved over the years. If you wonder why such women-centric films weren’t really much in numbers between the two generations, that’s how the entertainment business works. A trend — like say, saami padam — might go on for a while only for it to resurface years later.
You’ve played the role of a grandmother already in various successful films like ‘Jeans’ (1998), ‘Hulchul’ (2004) and ‘Oh! Baby’ (2019). How do you bring in a difference between the characters?
Lakshmi: It’s the story that decides everything. After finishing the story and roping us in to play that role, we also work on it. On the sets, the filmmaker will shape us.
Bejoy Nambiar: She’s being very modest.
Lakshmi: No, I’m telling you sincerely. Gone are the days when we used to do homework. Now, I have actually gotten a little lazy (smiles), because I know the directors will take care of it all. They’ll tell us what’s needed from us and we just have to listen to them.
Santhy, your roles in Malayalam films like ‘Tharangam’ and ‘Jallikkattu’ were strongly-written characters. How different are they when compared to the one written for your first web series?
Santhy: With films, the space to discover a character is small. My filmography in specific has catalytic characters that come in at a certain point in the film and deliver a twist or added momentum. But in this series, my character has a journey from the beginning to the end which is very exciting for me; it means we get a lot more to chew on. Working on a long format show for the first time was new and the chance to work with three directors and such co-stars, just like the title, feels like a complete package. I still wonder how they found me and put me into this space,but I’m so grateful that they did!
A still from ‘Sweet Kaaram Coffee’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Madhoo, in ‘Roja’ (1992) you played a strong woman who’d go to any lengths to get her husband back and in ‘Vaayai Moodi Pesavum’ (2014) you put your passion behind the welfare of your family. Can we call your character in this series an extension along those lines?
Madhoo: Being an individual and subtly fighting for a bigger cause is a link between the characters, and that’s not something I noticed until you pointed it out. It’s actually true. This character in the series also belongs to the same lineage and has personal needs, but still puts her family first. She’s not loud or aggressive but subtly puts her point across. The comparison you shared could be something that comes out of my own personality due to directors are probably picking up and casting me. Historically, such roles have been successful and I hope the trend continues (smiles).
We’ve seen a good share of road films and female-fronted flicks. As a co-writer, Swathi, how did the idea arise to put them together?
Swathi Raghuraaman: The premise of three women going on a road trip was already there when I got on board. As creators, we all like a road film as there’s so much to explore because the emotional journey is interesting and that’s represented in a physical journey. As a series, it gave us the space to explore that more. Each of their characters is relevant; one is a person who is taken for granted and wants to be recognised, one feels boxed in and wants to break free, while the youngest — a woman of today’s age — is in a dilemma layered with doubts and insecurities. Exploring these characters drew us in.
Krishna, your ‘Yuddham Sharanam’, despite being an action film, was spoken about for its emotional portions, and ‘Dharala Prabhu’ was a feel-good entertainer. Is this the zone you like to work in?
Krishna Marimuthu: Yes. I’m 50% individual and 50% my family. Wherever I go, I carry that. In my writing, when I take that subject, I have stronger control over it. When we do that with certain ownership, it translates better on-screen. Though I don’t want to restrict myself to this genre, I think I have something strong to offer in it.
Many English series have multiple directors for the same title and we have very few examples in Tamil — like ‘Suzhal’ which had two filmmakers — that have done the same. What are the benefits of such a collaboration?
Bejoy Nambiar: In our case, it’s not just us three; Reshma (Ghatala) is the showrunner who selected us. It was the four of us right from pre-production to the final cut. We walked in knowing how the episodes are going to be split between us and there was no animosity. All the challenges we had were the creative ones and the discussions were healthy as we all connected with how lovely the story is. As directors, we just wanted to make sure we elevated what was already in the script. The story decides how you approach it and no matter what vision I have, I should still serve the creative purpose of the story. The prep work really helped us and Reshma made sure we were tonally and creatively on the same page.
Swathi Raghuraaman: It felt like a fellowship as we were all together in it. Apart from us, the cast and crew continued across the length of the show. After a point, the actors, for instance, would even argue stating how their character wouldn’t utter a particular line in a certain way, or approach a situation in a different way. They started imbibing the character and we just had to guide them. We just had to hold it and pass it on to the next director; it was an interesting collaborative effort.
Krishna Marimuthu: The series follows the showrunner model and as Reshma did that part, there was a pyramid structure in place. She would connect with us and we conversed among ourselves as well. We chose our lenses, treatment, and look and feel together. Reshma wanted our personal input to be in the episodes we directed. In long-format storytelling, one person directing the entire show might be tiresome for the audience and the changeover, when done correctly, can be a new form.
Does ‘Sweet Kaaram Coffee’ denote the three main characters?
Swathi Raghuraaman: Well, itdenotes the overall flavour of life.
Krishna Marimuthu: It denotes the three characters... but not individually.
With censors on streaming platforms being a never-ending topic and now statutory warnings also being asked to be added, where do you think this medium is heading?
Swathi Raghuraaman: When it comes to art, there are always constraints such as finance. Even during those times, art will find its way. The future is exciting as the reach of our content is global and the Indian diaspora somewhere outside the country will connect to home with this. The world becomes smaller, we understand each others’ cinema better, and the limitations are endless.
Madhoo: At a time when we are adopting technological advancements and seeing stories mounted on a grand scale, it’s time for us to proudly present our cultural flavours and this show represents that. It’s refreshing to see something that’s simple, sweet and straightforward that’s also relatable. I think our stories’ beauty is in their simplicity.
Sweet Kaaram Coffee premieres on Prime Video on July 6
