KOCHI: Keralites are obsessed with superheroes, thanks to DC and Marvel comics. But, there has never been a native superhero that Malayalees could boast of. That Marvel comics have a huge fan base in Kerala became evident when Avengers: Endgame released here. It’s a fact that many love the fictional character Magneto, because of his ability to control magnetic fields.
Magneto, a short film by Nithish Sahadev, is based on this mutant fictional character who appears in the X-men series. Alex, the protagonist of the short film is a huge fan of Magneto since childhood. His love for the superhero mutant escalates as he grows, to the point that he finally develops the power to levitate objects. Soon he is arrested by police on charges of robbery, the succeeding scenes at the police station awe the audience.
“To be honest, I’m not a Marvel fan,” quips Nithish. “It was our cinematographer Aswin who introduced these characters to me. But I developed a fondness for Magneto right in the beginning. The way he levitates objects enthused me. Later, I came across a funny post on Facebook, where someone claimed that he turned out to be Magneto by levitating objects in his room.
Soon the news came that he was arrested for possessing drugs. This struck me and I started to work on the character. I realized that the character of Magneto has depth. I worked on the script from three different angles - Alex’s childhood, his confrontation with the drug mafia and the story he communicates to the audience,” Nithish says about the genesis of his film.
Good ventures are always born out of good friendships. Nithish’s tale is similar. “One day I got a call from my best friend Al Jaseem Abdul Jabbar asking about my idea. While we were talking, he said he will produce the short film. He didn’t even hear the story, all he told me was not to compromise the quality of Magneto due to budget and gave me full support.
I worked on the script again and the outcome has now been received well by the viewers. Al Jaseem loves cinema so much and I must say we need him on the production side. He’s the most excited among all of us. Al Jaseem’s brothers Al Jassam Abdul Jabbar and Al Sajam Abdul Jabbar are co-producers. Magneto has already crossed over one lakh views in a week’s time,” says Nithish.
The short film has to be applauded for its brilliant VFX, cinematography, and music. Sandeep Pradeep has done the VFX for Magneto, Aswin Nandakumar cranked the camera and Ankit Menon brought peppy music to it. Anand Menon, who edited the film also played the protagonist’s role. Nithish is an alumnus of Chennai Film Institute and has assisted in movies like ‘Mudhugauv’ and ‘Oru Muthassi Gadha’. “One specialty of Magneto is that everyone who brought out the filmmaker in me is part of this project. Thanks To Greeshma Munnu, Aswin, Murali Chand, Vipin Das, Ramanadhan Sithara and others who were involved in the making. Another happy news is that everyone associated with Magneto is into movies now.”
The short film was shared by celebrities like Soubin Shahir, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Benny Dayal, Jude Anthany Joseph, etc. Nithish affirms that many Marvel comics fans have been messaging him. The short film’s open ending has left people thinking about a sequel. “I have not thought about a sequel now. I’m planning to do a feature film now. Yes, Magneto will come back in the future as a movie or series,” Nithish wraps up.