With a mix of fascination and wonder, Fahim Safar, a Class XI student, had looked at an invitation letter for the screening of a short film made by his seniors some years ago. For it was the firsttime that he had heard of a short version of motion pictures getting a theatrical release.
His first entry into filmdom was as an assistant director for a short film made by his friend. Soon after finishing his Class XII exams, Fahim took up the role of an actor in another 40-minute short film Five feet Faizu. Now a third-year BA LLB student at National University of Advanced Legal Studies , Kochi, he gives up his vacation and holidays for the sake of his passion.
Fahim, is known more as a screenwriter in film circuits, particularly for his USP of writing lengthy scripts. “Production costs are higher in a film with a longer script, but that doesn’t matter to me and our crew. The lead character in my scripts always reflects my personality. Then I involve a co-writer into it, who chips in with how the nature of other characters should be and assists me in completing the script,” he says. The minimum cost of the films he has penned so far has been `25,000 and the maximum has been `1 lakh. In his second assignment, 2014, he translated a script from English to Malayalam.
His third project, Voice of God, brought many awards for Fahim and his friends at college fests. However, it missed an international film festival ticket by a whisker, as the film exceeded the time limit, by just one minute. “But our crew was not ready to minus that extra minute as it would have taken away the essence,” says Fahim adamantly. The latest one, Jo.we.lo of 59 minutes duration is about to be released and hopes to set a record.
Fahim never demands remuneration as he does not have a profit motive. “We are friends and all of us are involved in the making of a film. If I am offered a sum, I accept it, but never insist on it,” says Fahim. He has also hosted celebrity chat shows on Malayalam television channels for some time. meera.manu@newindianexpress.com