A satire on morality

Basil Joseph may seem like a busy techie spending hours before his computer developing softwares, but you can never ignore the creative streak in him. And the netizens seem to have agreed to the fact, as his latest short film Oru Thundu Padam is going viral in Youtube with as many as 2 lakh hits days within its release. This is Basil’s third attempt.

The title Oru Thundu Padam may give you certain ideas, but the movie is a satirical take on the hypocritical society we live in.  Says Basil, a self-confessed cine buff: “The story revolves around two people, a ‘feminist’ woman and a man, an ogler, who develops a soft spot for her at the first sight. They engage in conversion and what happens next is a twist in the tale.

According to Basil, the short film was an attempt to reveal the real side of those advocating moral policing in our society.

“My film is not exactly a fun ride. It attempts to question the basic underlying attitude of people who tend to question the morality of others while living a secret dirty life,” says Basil.

Oru Thundu Padam stars cine actor Aju Varghese (of Kili Poyi and Thattathin Marayathu fame) and Blessy Kurien, an anchor with a private channel.

Aju Varghese, who had seen the earlier works of Basil, was mighty impressed with the latter’s works. “When I sent him the video of my earlier short film Priyamvadha Katharayano?, Aju was impressed and expressed interest to associate with my next project. So when I met him in person, I narrated the script and he instantly agreed,” says Basil who has already started his next venture with Aju.

Oru Thundu Padam was shot over a weekend. The movie was produced by a Bangalore-based businessmen Biju. Vishnu Sharma handled the camera while the editing work was done by Appu Bhattathiri. Sidhartha Pradeep composed the music for the film and Arun Chandu designed the posters.

Basil, who is a software engineer with a multi-national company, says he wants to take forward filmmaking with the IT work. “Eventually, my dream is always movies. Let’s see how things work out,” says Basil.

Oru Thundu Padam is powered by Media Village, an initiative of Startup Village, that offers support and mentorship for artists and creative startups.

Basil’s earlier works were short films Ssh (which he did while doing engineering course at College of Engineering, Trivandrum) and Priyamvadha Katharayano?, a comical entertainer with a twist.

The short film which continues to garner hits was chosen as the third most popular short film in Malayalam.

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