Five directors of Malayalam anthology, ‘Freedom Fight’ talk about their stories

Freedom Struggle, currently streaming on SonyLIV, was conceptualized by Jio Baby, who felt that making a full-length feature film during the pandemic would not be an easy proposition. “That’s why I chose the anthology,” says Geo’s director of the landmark film. The Great Indian Kitchen. Apart from them, the line-up consists of Akhil Anilkumar, Kunjila Maskilamani, Francis Lewis and Jitin Isaac Thomas. Jio says the accent was on good material and they had to go through several scripts before finalizing the four stories.

“While Francis is the editor of . The Great Indian Kitchen, I met Kunjila through my cinematographer Salu K Thomas, who was Salu’s senior at the Satyajit Ray Film Institute. In Jitin’s case, I was impressed by his earlier work, please pay attention, which was screened at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK). I met him through a common friend. Akhil came into the project when he called me for the contact number of a streaming platform to pitch his short film idea. I asked him to come on board,” explains Jio.

Jio says that the title was not pre-planned. “When we saw films together we realized that they all handled the concept of freedom in different ways. Directors had the freedom to shoot as they wanted. So, in a way, it was giving these filmmakers creative freedom. was about,” says Geo.

Jomon Jacob, Dijo Augustine, Sajin S Raj and Vishnu Rajan, Producers The Great Indian KitchenAnthology has been created.

in chat with metroplus, The five directors talk about their respective films and experiences.

Githu without chain

Director: Akhil Anilkumar

Geetu (Rajisha Vijayan), the protagonist, seeks to break free from the expectations of his family and social conditioning.

It was conceptualized by Akhil, a prolific short film maker. Githu without chain That too in a nutshell. “It was going to be a two-minute film. When a boy proposes to Githu, she wonders what her life would be like if she said yes. But even after much thought, she finally tells him, ‘Let me think about it’. Later, I weaved real-life examples into the narrative. Writing the script was organic and a lot of fun,” says Akhil.

He says that he has some traits in Geetu. “I am always worried about what others will think of me, just like Githu. Plus, I grew up in a household that had a lot of restrictions.

Akhil, who is also a sound designer, had two films released on the same day, that too in a theatre. Freedom Struggle And Archana 31 not outHe said, ‘In both the films, I have tried to talk about serious subjects in a light-hearted manner. I love that narrative technique. I know that both of my projects have flaws. I haven’t assisted any director and I learned filmmaking by making Archana…”

dissonant

Directed by: Kunjila Maskilamani

How a group of women working in shops at SM Street in Kozhikode fought for toilet facilities in 2009. He was led by the founder of Penkuttu, tailor P Viji.

“I was half way through a crowdfunded documentary on the conflict and I had some footage. But the project stalled because we couldn’t continue to raise funds. That’s when I got the chance to be a part of the anthology,” says Kunjila. The excitement for her was that she could experiment with blending documentary and fiction.

Viji and Kabani, who were part of the struggle, play the same role in the film. Apart from Srinda and some of the current members of Penkuttu, Kunjila selected the rest of the actors after an extensive audition. She further says that toilets have not been constructed in some shops in SM Street. “We came across an unused e-toilet and when we asked about it, the local people told us that it was not being used as it was not inaugurated yet!”

Kunjila, who has directed several short films, is at a high level after receiving acclaim from various circles, one of them being Sudha Kongara, the director of acclaimed films, such as irudhi sutru And sorarai potru, “OTT is like a digital box office. I actually asked a few friends from the film world if I could call myself a hit filmmaker now! She says.

ration

Director: Francis Lewis

A middle-class housewife (Kabani) maintains friendly relations with her good neighbor until a piece of seer fish brings out the economic disparity between the two.

In the film, Francis takes an incident from his life. “Our neighbor had given my mother some prawns to keep in our refrigerator. Mother assumed it was for us and cooked it. Later, when the neighbor told us he would need it the next day, Mother Was stunned. My father, who ran an electrical workshop, did not have enough money to buy such an expensive fish. so that night Mother Went around with money and we managed to buy prawns. I often wonder why he didn’t tell the truth to our neighbor,” Francis says.

The film is set in Alappuzha, Francis’ native place. “Some of the utensils shown in the film are actually used by my mother. I got several calls from viewers who told me that she had a similar experience.”

He started by assisting Jio kilometer and kilometer, “He took me with him after watching my short films. Since I also edited them to save money, I mastered it. this is how i made my debut The Great Indian KitchenFrancis, who edited Geo’s film in the anthology.

Francis says that Jio was not her first choice to play the husband. “But as the script developed, it eventually passed to him and he was quite happy with it. He helped me with the making process with some tips,” says Francis.

old age home

Director: Xiao Baby

The film revolves around Baby George (Joju George), who has lifestyle diseases and early signs of dementia, his wife, Lali (Lali PM) and their domestic help, Dhanalakshmi (Rohini).

“This is the story of my family. My father, Baby George, had dementia and other diseases. He was very sad when we became strict about his food and drink. Then my mother-in-law came to stay with us and she used to give him sweets and snacks without our knowledge. More than anything else, my father was happy to have someone to talk to, just like Dhanu befriends Baby in the film,” he says.

Jio says that Lali’s character was inspired by her mother Alekutty. “She will never sit idle. She has been making value-added products from jackfruit and encourages women in the neighborhood to take it. My father is no more, but my mother, now 74 years old, tells me about the new continues to amaze with its drive to learn skills and learn new courses,” says Jio.

Joju met Jio’s father while he was shooting for the film. Kunju Daivami in 2016. “He then closely watched his body language and mannerisms. I cast Lali because she resembles my mother and I needed an unfamiliar face. Since she hails from Kottayam, she also mastered the dialect. It was a dream to work with Rohini Cheechi“Jio says.

He said that Rahul Raj’s music lifted the mood of the film. Rahul worked with the Budapest Art Orchestra for the film.

Pvt.Thu.Mu

Director: Jitin Issac Thomas

The focus is on manual scavengers. One of them (Unni Lalu) is murdered while working in the house of a minister (Siddharth Shiva).

Jitin says that he got this idea from a real life situation. “The septic tank in our building was blocked and the scavengers said they would be able to come only after a few days. He instructed us not to use the toilet on those days. If it was any electrical or plumbing work, we could try to do it on our own. But not cleaning the septic tank. That idea eventually developed into a screenplay,” says Jitin.

Some viewers have expressed objection to the violent and graphic content and have observed that the subject seems far-fetched in the context of Kerala. “The subject itself creates hatred in all of us and I wanted to convey that sentiment as well. Also, the production house had given me the freedom to execute it the way I wanted to,” says Jitin.

It was a conscious decision to shoot the film in black and white. He said, ‘It has to do with the politics of the film. White is a color you associate with politicians and black with any kind of garbage. Also, since the theme is dark, we thought using a color palette would not do it justice,” he says.

Jitin is a self-taught filmmaker as all his attempts to assist a director did not succeed. “I did not expect Pvt.Thu.Mu So much to start a discussion. Had brought some dimensions that I had never imagined while writing the script.” Jitin has also written the lyrics of the song sung by Reshmi Satish and composer Arun Vijay.

Meanwhile, his first film, please pay attentionA film dealing with caste prejudice will release soon.