KOCHI: When the South Korean film 'Parasite' bagged the award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Golden Globes, its maker Bong Joon-ho proclaimed, “Once you overcome the one-inch barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”
This is as true for filmmakers as it is for viewers. Indeed, an ardent embracing of subtitling work has seen Malayalam movies transcend its cultural borders and gain acceptance in regions far and wide. One notable example is 2019’s hit Kumbalangi Nights, which, despite its quaint rural settings, enchanted audiences from all corners of the globe.
At the crest of this new wave is One Inch Barrier, a four-person subtitling team comprising a filmmaker, film enthusiast and journalists. Since its inception in 2020, the team has worked on about 20 feature films, over 120 short films and web series.
“The journey began when film director Shanavas Naranipuzha approached me to translate the screenplay of his latest work Sufiyum Sujatayum. He was in talks with various non-Malayali actors for the main role. So, he wanted an English screenplay,” co-founder of One Inch Barrier Subash Babu tells TNIE.
With a keen interest in cinema and writing, Subash always had a knack for screenplay translations. His friends, many of whom are engaged in the cinema industry, had often tasked him with translation works. This, too, was one such and nothing out of the ordinary, save for a small development.
“Not long after the translation work, Shanavas rang me and insisted that I do the subtitles for the movie. This was in 2020, a time when movies making their way to OTT platforms and pan-India releases were the norm. By then, many filmmakers had figured out the significance of adding subtitles to their works,” he says.
To do well across India was particularly important for Sufiyum Sujatayum as it didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy theatre releases due to the Covid lockdown. The movie was the first exclusive OTT release in the country.
But, there was one small problem. “I didn’t know anything about subtitling a movie, especially the technical aspects of it — how to sync the lines with the dialogue, etc,” Subash admits.
However, a willingness to learn and persistence on the part of Shanavas saw the Bengaluru-based technical writer team up with a close friend — Prasanth Vijay, an established filmmaker — for the project. “Prasanth is a subtitles enthusiast. He and I used to review and comment on the subtitles of movies we watched. When this project came, we thought: why not start a group? Do it more officially? That’s how One Inch Barrier began,” Subash says.
For Prasanth, who has a clutch of films to his name (Athisayangalude Venal and Daayam), subtitling work was, in addition to being a god-sent creative outlet, a means to establish and widen his connections in the cinema industry.
“Our initial works had come primarily by way of friends. Today, that’s not the case. Filmmakers seek us out. We got the work of The Great Indian Kitchen after its writer and director Jeo Baby was impressed by our previous works. Not long after, we landed the work of Rojin Thomas’s Home and Devan Jayakumar’s Valatty. Then came the work of Kerala Crime Files,” Prasanth tells TNIE.
The Indrans-helmed family drama Home, released in 2021 during the Covid period, was a critical hit across the country thanks in part to its subtitles. The one-inch tall lines in English ensured that the film reached more people than its intended audience.
“If you think about it, the Malayalam film market is relatively small. Today, for a movie to do well, it must appease the audience in other markets as well. We’ve seen a lot of directors pay close attention to subtitles of late. This was not the case earlier,” says Prasanth.
Indeed, subtitling was once the last-minute, “necessary evil” kind of work that filmmakers tolerated for the sake of seeing the movie released as DVDs or in other regions. Nobody really bothered to spend time on it or verify its accuracy. “Director Rojin Thomas reviewed each and every subtitle line of Home. He used to engage in discussions with us to clear his doubts and to ensure the words used were as accurate as possible. This was rare,” recalls Subash.
“Today, directors also use subtitles as a means to lend more context to the story. If done well, subtitles can help movies travel across the globe,” says Subash.
The team’s latest work is Manjummel Boys, a runaway success in Malayalam cinema history, grossing well over `200 crore from box office collections. “This was the longest project we worked on. We spent over a year and a half on it,” says Subash.
The team, which now comprises two more members — Sumi Bahuleyan and Haripriya K M — took on the project well before the film’s shooting began.
“Normally, subtitling is the last task in the filmmaking pipeline and usually gets done in two to four weeks. However, for this movie, the crew had tasked us with translations and subtitling work of the interviews they had with the real ‘Manjummel Boys’,” Subash says.
Following this, One Inch Barrier also landed the subtitling work of the feature film. “It was an exhaustive, but very rewarding work. There were lots of iterations — seven major ones. Everyone poured their hearts out for this work. The results of that are for all to see,” Subash recalls. It also helped that the main character’s name was Subash, he quips.
Talking about the now-fledging industry, Prasanth says, “Unlike before, with the advent of streaming platforms, subtitling has become more democratised. Now, people who have a genuine interest in language, translation, and movies are coming into this field. It’s fabulous!”
He also adds, “Subtitling is an art. More than the word, you are translating a culture. One has to be well-entrenched in all aspects of cinema and culture to put across the line without it losing value or becoming verbose.
“It requires a specific skill set, no doubt, but none too difficult to master. You just need to pay close attention to the details.”
It’s evident that subtitling is enjoying its golden era, but the case remains that it is still a poorly paid stream. Most do it out of a love for the work or because, like Prasanth, they are keen to establish a foothold in the industry.
“Now, with filmmakers giving subtitles the attention it deserves, the tide is surely turning,” Prasanth says.