Kerala’s young talents mark a creative unlock of the lockdown
Steven Spielberg has famously observed: “You shouldn’t dream your film; you should make it!”
Making film is far from possible now in the time of lockdowns. The Indian film industry is heading to a spiral of loss, with estimates pegged at US$79.5 to 132 million only for Bollywood, while the Malayalam film industry faces the crisis of several big-ticket movies wrapped in cans, throwing even future release and production schedules haywire.
While the stars are at home, busy churning out ‘cute’ little stories of kids, dogs and what not — no doubt at the behest of their social media advisors, the creative professionals too aren’t way too ‘creative’ during the lockdown.
Contrary to what people might expect of the lockdown letting loose an overdrive of creative juices, many writers feel stymied and have hit a writer’s block. A leading scriptwriter told me that it is impossible to write just because “you are at home. When the world closes around you, words seem irrelevant.”
The philosophical offshoots that stem from lockdown, no doubt, make for another story.
But as they say, when all is bleak, some talents find a way to circumvent the uncertainties and find an unstoppable energy that goes back to what Spielberg said: You just make movies.
Easier said than done when the director is holed in a room, his writer in another, and his cast spread over hundreds of kilometres, each in their locked down apartments. There is no cinematographer at hand and the editor will only get to see the Dropbox-shared links that he/she has to work on while the entire music brigade, also in different places, even different time zones, will need to lend life to a ‘film’ without the usual spirit of collaborative criticism.
Each man and woman in one’s own world — and yet as Kerala’s young talents show — they break down the walls and create films (used here in the generic sense of the term) that is shot on mobiles, edited on desktops and distributed straight to YouTube with all the publicity machine resting on the platforms of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
So when Green Parrot Talkies, a venture by director-writer Vishnu Udayan from Thiruvananthapuram, decided that enough is enough of the lockdown, he found a kindred soul in his long-time friend and colleague Kiran Ashokan.
The two set to task to create what they have named the ‘Quarantine Mini-Series’ — a candid look at life in the time of Covid-19.
And what a way to go: Now well into 15 odd episodes, the mini-series has gained a near cult following — primarily for its originality, simplicity, quirkiness and absolute honesty. The stories that ‘Quarantine’ tell are from anyone and every one’s life — a sibling rivalry, a lonely couple, a mother-daughter duo at each other’s throats, friends sharing frustration on lack of ‘beef’ on an Easter Sunday — you name it, and you would most likely have gone through a similar situation.
What makes Quarantine even more stand-out is the fact that for an experimental web series, it has also been a talent magnet: Young first-timers are finding their creative expression through a medium that undoubtedly will also be how we perceive, create and consume entertainment in the ‘new normal’ that we are about to experience.
Kiran’s take
Kiran says Quarantine started from Vishnu confiding that “we need to do something during the lockdown.” The two had earlier worked on Waft, the multiple award-winning short film directed by Vishnu. Kiran acted in the film before going on to work with Vishnu on his new short film, Apple, that is in post-production.
Writing the series “wasn’t way too difficult to be honest,” chimes Kiran. “I just incorporated what I heard from my friends and relatives on what they did during this period,” and then embellished the real-world experiences to make it fit for camera. It meant smart writing, quirky one-liners, and making it all crispy as a tea-biscuit — well, at 3 to 4 minutes that is the time every episode is.
But then, in an era in which everyone is a filmmaker (think TikTok), the challenge for a web series was to make the videos interesting — more so taking into consideration that every actor was his/her own director with no one to call the shots. “It seemed improbable at first; we had no idea how our actors would enact the script as there was no one behind the camera; all we had was Vishnu instructing them how to do.”
Which is why Vishnu, who didn’t want to be featured for this story — wanting to give space for the talents — says that “only true talents could pass the test; of course, being on one’s own beats any camera blues but if you didn’t have it in you, there was no way an actor could pull off the script.”
For Kiran, who spins his words and visuals, based also on concepts shared by friends, the experience was even more gratifying because “it added to my confidence that I could write… not that what I have created is classic or extraordinary but the fact that I was able to overcome that block within me, which hardened my own perception that I couldn’t write.”
He gives credit to Vishnu for asking him “to write whatever he wanted.” The damnit, let us do it spirit, indeed has worked as now more people share ideas and ‘Quarantine’ has taken its own life- without budgets to back just talents on board.
Madhuri JK
And probably the youngest talent to join Quarantine is Madhuri, a Grade 12 student. Highly appreciated for her work, she has proved to be a natural talent — effortless on screen and bringing a joy de vivre with her effortless mix of being down-to-earth, sincere and spot-on natural.
Madhuri says “at first glance, it (acting in the series) was weird because I had to break for pauses for the dialogues — but once I watched the end-result, I was genuinely thrilled with the output.”
Her biggest learning from the experience is that “you need to be patient. I had to go for many takes but I enjoyed every moment of it — and that led to me giving myself 100 per cent to it.” Madhuri intends to pursue acting even when she pursues a full-time profession.
Indeed, Madhuri’s sincere performance made for stand-out appeal because Vishnu knew her passion for acting and offered her the opportunity to just go for it. She says her first series on Quarantine called for about 15 takes while she was able to reduce the number of takes subsequently. “It felt rather strange initially as there was no one telling me what to do but it also brought a sense of self-discipline in me as an actor; there was space for me to perform to my best.”
Madhuri says she is inspired by the performances of Parvathy Thiruvothu, “as she brings her own element to every movie of hers; that is what an actor should have — reveal an element to the character that stays in your mind even after you come out of the theatre. It is their signature and I want to make a signature of my own.”
Ashwin Jayan
Another actor who has gained appreciation with Quarantine is Ashwin Jayan, who was approached by Vishnu (yes, over phone) if he was interested to do a series with the catch that he would have to shoot it himself. As someone who had wanted to be an actor since his school days and had done a few auditions, Ashwin grabbed the offer.
He says the experience was an eye-opener “realising that we could do a whole series sitting at home without the support of the technical crew.” Vishnu, the director, however, was at hand: He would watch the scenes and where necessary ask Ashwin (and all actors) to reshoot if need be.
Ashwin is a trifle apologetic that he might have caused a headache to Vishnu “bugging him if the scene was okay” but the experience has emboldened him, and he plans to put all his efforts into “making acting my daily job.” As someone who believes that acting is “about telling stories to all kinds of people with actors serving as the medium” he surely has a visual resume in his hand now!
Sachin Sathyan
A friend brought another debutant actor Sachin Sathyan, an engineer by profession, in touch with Vishnu many months back and he assisted Vishnu on an ad film. Stepping in front of the camera was only natural for Sachin as he had done a few auditions earlier but never got the opportunity to act.
As an actor, there were many challenges in performing as a single-crew unit, says Sachin. “How do you react, how do you decide your body language, how do you shoot avoiding any surrounding disturbances…. I think I learnt a lot from this experience; it just drove me to push myself and learn.”
The young engineer wants to pursue his passion for acting — which he believes will bring him true happiness, ever-ready to tackle the next challenging role by lending his personal touch and twist to his performance.
Dr. Chinchu Augustine
The arc of friendship gets wider with Quarantine going by how newcomers came into the picture. Dr Chinchu Augustine, a dentist by profession, had met Vishnu during an ad shoot and her innate talent shot down her inherent laziness leading to her taking up the project. “All credit to Vishnu for inspiring me to do something really productive and close to my heart.”
Her biggest learning from the experience was that “we owe a lot to people behind the camera” as shooting the scenes herself was a process of discovering the art of filmmaking — even thought it was just with a mobile phone and the choice of the frame being suggested by Vishnu.
Chinchu’s strong performances also reflect her personal views on acting: “When you act you forget yourselves and you become the character.” That she knows needs a lot of commitment and talent. And she is blessed with both.
Athira Sivanand
Athira Sivanand, another young acting talent in Quarantine and a final-year MBBS student, knew Vishnu as a senior at school. He had watched a short in which she had acted and offered her the role, which she readily accepted.
The role she was offered was that of a doctor, and Athira jokes, “it could be because he thought I would be apt for it as I was a medial student.” But both know there is more to that because Athira is passionate about acting — although she had devoted herself to studies and never attempted to venture into the world of acting.
Quarantine helped her lose ‘stage-fright” and “to be a lot less self-conscious” and views acting as not just the ‘need to perform but to live your part. Acting is a profession that calls for passion and love and only then you can bring it to life — because I believe more than in acting but in ‘living’ the role.”
Meanwhile the captain of the series, Vishnu, prefers that the talents talk for the series. And let him be: From such supportive silences come strong talents to the fore — and to trust in newcomers, push the boundaries of filmmaking, and embrace the new normal with gusto that calls for a huge round of applause — reserved for him.
ENDS
Follow, watch and like, if you do, the entire series here: https://www.facebook.com/greenparrottalkies/playlist/649748789201031/?sfnsn=scwshmo&extid=3yuX5bZ5Lde5vv51
