It’s always a cause for celebration when a filmmaker with a unique voice announces his arrival with a remarkably original work. Anand Ekarshi, with his directorial debut, Aattam, is undoubtedly that. You don’t often see a film fortified by layers and layers of thought-provoking ideas, and Malayalam cinema can do with more of those. A filmmaker who takes his own time, Anand doesn’t believe in making a film just for the sake of it. Ever since he caught the filmmaking bug in high school and a stint with ads and corporate videos years later, followed by an experience as an intern assistant director on Imtiaz Ali’s Tamasha, Anand has been waiting for the most opportune moment to make his debut.
“Filmmaking isn’t something you do in a jiffy, and for this, watching movies alone won’t suffice; it’s a cumulative result of an individual’s life experiences, maturity, reading.... a lot of things,” says Anand, who wasn’t bothered by making an income from it as he already had a means of sustenance through directing music videos and ads. Anand was engaged in another script when his long-time friend from his theatre days, actor Vinay Forrt, suggested making a film with 13 main leads. There was a noble intention behind this suggestion: to bring to light some immensely talented theatre actors who are part of Vinay’s close circle.
“The credit for this idea solely belongs to Vinay, as he wanted to do something for these actors who haven’t had an opportunity to get into movies yet,” recalls Anand. “He wanted to help them out in some way and open up a space for them. So he asked me if I could write something and then direct it with him being part of it. And once the ball got rolling, everything came together so quickly, and that was probably due to all of us being part of a collective. These are passionate actors who are not financially well off as they rely on daily wages to survive, and it was important for us to do something for them.”
Since finding and convincing a producer to fund a film with a predominantly fresh cast isn’t easy, Anand and his team first had to find a way to prove they could make this film. He found some assistance from a friend who lent him some money to shoot a 10-min scene from the film exactly as it’s written, in sync sound, with another friend, cinematographer Anend C Chandran (Premam, Bheeshma Parvam), offering to wield the camera (Anurudh Aneesh shot the complete film).
“We thought this was a good approach to help a producer gauge our capabilities—staging, blocking, performances, directing... the works. Fortunately, we had a very supportive and sensible producer in the form of Ajith Joy (Mukundan Unni Associates), who saw the result and immediately got on board. He gave all the necessary technical support without interference—and this is not false praise, mind you. I made it clear from the start that sync sound would be much preferable to dubbing for a material of this nature. We got some special equipment from Mumbai for that. We also agreed to manage expenses like accommodation on our own, aside from an agreeable remuneration. Needless to say, when you got an understanding producer, there’s no need for worry.”
Aattam had its world premiere at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA), where it won Grand Jury for Best Film. It was recently screened at the Mumbai Film Festival and will be the opening film at the upcoming International Film Festival of India (IFFI). “Having Aattam as the opening film at IFFI, through a unanimous jury decision, is a big deal,” adds Anand, as he conveys his delight at Aattam being the best pick for the opening.
Aattam was also one of the 20 films in the ‘Film Bazaar Recommends’ list at the NFDC Film Bazaar 2022. “If we are looking for a global space for your film, the NFDC route is so helpful, whether in terms of screening it or establishing contacts. It was NFDC that paved the way for IFFLA,” he says.
Anand also wants to dispel the notion often associated with films that go to festivals—that they are ‘award’ films—and any self-respecting cinephile who has had the opportunity to see Aattam wouldn’t dare to categorise the film as such. “I used to joke with Vinay about our film being called an ‘art’ film. We never intended it. We aimed to present a tense, serious subject thrillingly, in the format of a suspense drama.”
But Anand acknowledges the existence of filmmakers who make films to please some festival juries—“people who make films because they are cognisant of the agenda of a certain festival. Their intention is self-explanatory.”
Cineastes who watched the film early have pointed out parallels between Aattam and Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men, owing to both having the commonality of a dozen or more characters seeking the truth behind a deplorable incident.
However, Anand shares that he didn’t think of 12 Angry Men before making it. “It wasn’t an inspiration, actually, but at one point, I realised that people will make that parallel because the script has a similar nature. I would say that I’m more inspired by the work of Asghar Farhadi, who often questions the ethical and moral fibre of individuals in his films.”
As for creating a compelling narrative structure, Anand’s first motivation was to showcase these actors’ talents; then came the idea of a ‘society vs individual’ idea, and then the rest. “You know, we are always particular about morality when it comes to other people—what they should or shouldn’t do or how politically correct they should be—but when it comes to an issue concerning us, we don’t always adhere to what we preach. That’s where the central idea germinated, and only later did we think about the narrative and how to execute it.”
Except for Vinay Forrt, Kalabhavan Shajohn, and Zarin Shihab, the principal cast of Aattam comprises theatre actors who were subject to a month-long rehearsal process to get them to adapt their performances for the camera, following a seven-day rehearsal on location. Anand explains that this method helped make the crew comfortable with the “intimidating” presence of the lights and crew members. “Acting for plays and acting for cinema are different.
Having them rehearsed with a camera eliminated any possible difficulty on set. After 10-15 days, the theatrical acting vanished from their system, and I don’t think it would’ve been possible had we not done all the rehearsals. The one notable advantage of working with theatre actors is they are disciplined. They can sometimes do a 10-minute scene in one shot without straining to memorise all those dialogues.”