AN up-and-coming local film director Shatish Rao, made waves in the local Tamil community with his debut pilot film, En Muzhuvale, which was released late August.
Speaking to theSun, the 26-year-old Rao revealed more of himself and what went into getting the film off the ground.
Where did your career start?
I studied mass communications, majoring in broadcast but it did not touch that much on film. I learned a lot about filmmaking through YouTube and when I worked on Malaysian films, it exposed me to the practical aspects, like using a camera.
As a student at SEGi University and Colleges, weekdays were spent in classes, while on the weekends, I was going for film shoots. This lasted for a year.
As a student with not much knowledge of filmmaking, the experience of being on set was rewarding, from being able to ask how things work, like the lighting and scriptwriting, to being involved in the process and procedure of releasing a film in theatres.
Overall, 50% came from learning, with YouTube contributing 40% and the university 10% because the learning bit was mostly theory and filmmaking was more practical. The Grab thing was after the pandemic, which inspired the pilot film.
Who were the filmmakers you looked up to growing up?
I’m still a newcomer in the industry. My inspiration, I would say, came from Tamil directors in India. I love Maniratnam, Gauthnam Vasudev Menon and recently, Lokesh Kanagaraj.
More than their movies, I like their film craft and how sincere they are about it. If we look at Hollywood, I would say Martin Scorcese, Christopher Nolan and David Fincher.
Did you have another career in mind when you chose to pursue mass communications before filmmaking?
Probably I would have been in the marketing field. I like marketing but thanks to a lecturer in my first year, first semester and first assignment at university, she told me to try doing a short film.
I don’t know why she suggested that. I was provided with a camera and when I held it, I was immediately interested in learning how to use it. Because films are told through moving visuals, the process intrigued me.
As a filmmaker, where does your inspiration come from, particularly for a film like En Muzhuvale?
A lot of people have asked me if the plot was based on real-life experience. When I was a part-time Grab driver, I had the thought, “What if my ex-girlfriend got into my car as a passenger? How would I react?” Virusha is not a real person.
She is a character I created. But, no matter which director or writer you ask, there will be a real-life source of inspiration. That is what makes films believable.
If you’re asking for real-life inspiration, as I said, being a Grab driver was part of it and obviously we all have past relationships. Certain characters or characterisations are inspired by them, but it is not 100%.
For example, Virusha is a little arrogant, like my ex-girlfriend. I liked that idea of showing a contrasting side to a female character instead of making them “girly”.
These kinds of small things are taken from real life. En Muzhuvale is very mature, like the dialogue, characterisations and ending.
Were you ever tempted to write the very basic, generic Indian ending where everyone ends up happily ever after?
The pilot film’s ending is open-ended because I want viewers to question, “What will happen next?” Like I said earlier, eventually I want to make this into a feature-length film and the pilot’s ending is for people to come for the full film and find out what happens next.
Your film is often called a “pilot film”, what makes it different from a short film?
In short films, we see how it starts and ends.
These also go on YouTube. I chose to treat En Muzhuvale as a pilot film because it is 30 minutes of what will be expanded into a full film.
Did you face problems shooting the pilot as a new director?
Yes. This project was actually completed in December 2021. We shot everything in 10 days. It took me one-and-a-half years to present it to the audience due to all the issues that happened along the way.
For one, I had to change the initial music director. It took several months. In between, there were financial issues. They were mostly post-production issues, but during production, there was also a problem.
In September 2021, I planned to shoot the pilot in December. Everything was finalised, even the dates. Close to the date, the 2021 floods happened. In the pilot, it was obvious that everything was shot outdoors.
So that was a challenge, but thanks to my entire crew, they were the reason it turned out well.
What will you be working on next now that En Muzhuvale is out?
I’m working on the script for the full film at the moment. I will not deviate from the path of the pilot.
Also, the dialogue was not fully written by me. It was by a friend, Deepa Suriabagarsam. When I told her the idea I had for the story, she really liked it.
I asked for her help with the dialogue because, being much older than me, she has more life experience. If you feel like the dialogue is mature, it is solely because of her.
The film will also star Dhiviyaa Rathi, Koghilan Ravi and I in the same roles as the pilot, and there will also be a new important character to be played by a new actor, which requires a casting call and audition. Hopefully, I can get a proper investor who believes in me.
