BENGALURU : You would remember him as Father Vincent in the critically-acclaimed film English Vinglish, where Ashvin A Matthew played a teacher who taught Sridevi’s character Shashi’s daughter. While that was his first film, Matthew, who is also a standup comedian, is now set to release his own feature film as writer, director and producer, 3Devi, in January 2021. “Just like Sridevi held the film with the absence of a hero, I’ve tried to do that in my film. I have to thank English Vinglish for that.
The male characters don’t even have names, just the way it is in most films or even life, where women are identified by what they do – mother, homemaker, secretary, etc,” he says, adding, “Ever since Mary Magdalene, we have treated women shamefully within a religious context. That compounded with the fact that nothing is done to right these wrongs, just echoes how we treat women in general. The film arises from a place of anger at systemic patriarchy.”
The 1 hour and 50 minute-long film stars Shubha Poonja, and also features founders of Jagriti Theatre, Arundhati and Jagadish Raja, in supporting roles. The story revolves around the lives of three women – an actress, assistant director, and soon-to-wed entrepreneur – all of whom walk out of their situations. It’s on a road trip that they find themselves in a situation where they are running for life, and channelise their inner goddess when they have to commit murder to stay alive. “There’s a lot of dialogue about patriarchy with elements of humour,” says Matthew, who also acts in the film.
He was getting ready to make a bilingual Malayalam and Tamil film, Tangasi Brothers, when a potential producer suggested that he make a short trial film. Never having made a film, Matthew thought it apt to start with a Kannada one considering his roots in the city. So in October-November last year, Matthew started writing the film which was then shot earlier this year until the lockdown was imposed. “Having completed 60-70 per cent of the shoot, we decided to edit the footage. Once we felt it was safe enough we shot the rest of the bits in Kodagu and Bengaluru,” he says.
Hiccups did come along the way, including comedian PD Satish who was supposed to star as a villain having to step out owing to a back injury. “But somehow things just came together. Even when I was running short on the budget of Rs 1.4 crore, my brother chipped in, and a friend mortgaged his mother’s land to offer Rs 15 lakh,” he says.
Even as work in the comedy space has come to a standstill, Matthew refuses to go the virtual route simple because he cannot perform without an audience. “It just doesn’t work for me. That’s the reason I quit being an RJ,” says.