A lie is usually the easiest way out of a sticky situation. In Antony’s ‘Lie Detector’, it comes with a slap.
The Malayalam fantasy-comedy short takes an absurd premise and runs with it: whenever someone lies in front of Shaan, his hand uncontrollably slaps them. What follows is a comic tangle of secrets, excuses, and situations that quickly spiral out of control.
“It was as a warm-up exercise that I wrote this script. I was actually in the process of writing a script for a feature film. One of my friends joined me, and in four hours the script was complete,” says Antony, who has acted in the film, along with writing and directing it as well. He prefers going by his first name.
He further reveals that this script was initially intended for a skit he could act in, but he eventually changed his mind, realising its potential. “After writing it, we thought, why limit it to a skit? We felt it could work as a good short film. Then we planned to make it into a small-budget short film. But even that plan changed when another friend suggested making it big, as he could connect us to Jeo Baby sir,” Antony says. “He agreed to be part of the project and so it became big.”
At first, Antony had apprehensions about working with the actor-director, as, according to him, Jeo had an impression of being a rough and serious person within the Malayali movie industry.
“When I first met him to brief him about the story, I also had the same impression. But then he came for a rehearsal, and I was surprised. The image I had of him completely changed,” he recalls.
He also thought that having directed actors like Mammootty, Jeo might have a lot of suggestions, but Antony reveals that he never interfered. “He was willing to do many retakes until I was satisfied. He would keep enquiring about his performance and would communicate openly. That made me very comfortable while shooting with him,” he says.
Jeo plays Dr Kora Mathew, a dishonest yet unintentionally funny psychiatrist. According to Antony, it was surprising to see Jeo Baby fit into such a role so easily, “No one had seen him this way till then, as Athiradi was yet to be released during the making of the film. He performed quite well.”
Comedy has been Antony’s go-to genre; he informs, adding that it usually comes to him easily, although he remains unsure about how he does it—it’s natural for him. For this short, he also explored fantasy. “ It gave me another way into the story. The element of fantasy gave a more ‘surprising turn and made audiences curious quickly,” he says.
Antony has always been interested in cinema and has trained as an actor. He relied on his training while making the film. “I would say each dialogue first, working out the modulation and delivery, and then explain it to the other actors.”
The film was produced by Gladwin Saji and Antony, with Sindhu Ramu as co-producer. The film was edited by Sreeraj R D, Subin Mathew handled the cinematography and Rithoooh composed the background score.
The cast includes Jeo Baby, Antony, Shalini Pai, Nived Girish, Darshan, Hasli Amaan, Sidharth, Steffi Francis, Monica Benny, Anju Das and Sweekriti.
The film’s animated portions have also become one of its notable visual touches, even though they were not part of the original plan. “We decided to do the animation because of budget constraints. There were few scenes left to shoot after the main portions; we did it in animation,” Antony says.
Antony’s earlier short ‘Mirror’ was nominated at IFP, the multidisciplinary creative and cultural festival known for its 50-hour filmmaking challenges. Lie Detector, meanwhile, has now crossed one million views. on YouTube. Filmmakers and actors, including Anwar Rasheed, Vipin Das, Jean Paul Lal, Ganapathy, and Anu Moothadath, have also responded to the film.
“I was confident this would work, seeing the initial responses. Now the pressure to make a better project next, is on. I have an identity because of this film,” he smiles.