Kottayam Nazeer, a comedian cum mimicry artist cum actor, has turned director with Kuttichan, a 15-minute short film. Nazeer recently organized a screening for the press at Lal Media, Kochi.
According to a report in DC, the event was attended by fellow actors Kalabhavan Shajon, Lal, Suresh Krishna and Jaffer Idukki who play the leads in the film. Interestingly, Nazeer is the second comedian to announce his directorial debut after Harishree Ashokan. Earlier, Kalabhavan Shajon too had announced his directorial debut with the feature film Brother’s Day, starring Prithviraj.
Nazeer’s short film is centred on the themes of love and friendship. “In a short film, you convey a message within a small frame. I felt that love and friendship, two universal themes, would be apt for that,” says the director.
Kuttichan is a man on a deathbed and Jaffer Idukki’s character Paili decides to pay him a visit. The two revisit their memories and in the process, help form an image of Kuttichan who is not shown to the viewer.
Talking about the decision to tell the story from Kuttichan’s perspective, Nazeer says, “That was a conscious decision. I wanted to try a different format. I felt that telling Kuttichan’s story without showing his face would be a novel technique.”
With the story narrated from Kuttichan’s perspective, the makers, who wanted to stay realistic, decided to blur the portions where the character cries. They had their reservations regarding this. “We had doubts about the blurred part. Fortunately, it came out well,” says Nazeer.
About casting Jaffer Idukki, the director says, “I had approached a few actors before zeroing in on him. I feel he was the right choice. Be it in cinema or real life, hero’s sidekick has certain mannerisms. The way they talk and walk is something unique. I saw those features in Jaffer-ikka. And, he showed justice to the character. Usually, when you act as a character above your age, you tend to go artificial. However, he has done it smoothly and naturally.”
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The film also features Mala Parvathy, Maya and Maria. The entire movie has been filmed in a single shot. The cinematography was by Kanakaraj, and music by Gopi Sundar.
Nazeer had conducted an art exhibition featuring his paintings in 2018. This movie was shot shortly after that.
Nazeer says that he now plans to direct a full-length feature film. “Making a movie is not an easy task. It is a long process. Everything including the actor’s date has to fall in line. I am working on a project. If everything goes well, it will come out this year.”
Image Courtesy: DC