Expectations are excessive as movie director Krishand, with two state-award-winning movies to his credit score for Vrithakrithiyilulla Chathuram (2019) and Avasavyuham (2021), releases his third film, Purusha Pretham, on March 24 on SonyLIV.
In a pre-release interview, the director says that the movie is a “police procedural comedy in the crime noir cinema template of the West. But it has a Kerala milieu and is told in a humorous way.”
Krishand heard Manu Thodupuzha’s story from scriptwriter Ajith Haridas lengthy earlier than he made Vrithakrithiyilulla Chathuram. “Ajith had plans to direct it then. But I had told him that if at all he finds it difficult to helm, I would take it up. Eventually, I got that chance in 2018. The script had to be reworked,” says Krishand.
The trailer hints at an unidentified corpse, a pretham, which may imply a lifeless physique or a ghost in Malayalam. Pretham is the official time period for a lifeless physique utilized by the Kerala Police. Sub-Inspector Sebastian, or Super Sebastian as he’s known as, heads the investigation. “While Ajith’s priority in the script was problems faced by the marginalised, I saw other possibilities. Every human system is built on hierarchy and equality doesn’t actually work for our survival. These aspects were combined and I worked out a narrative that has end-to-end humour,” he explains.
Director Krishand
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Humour has been a relentless in his films. “That’s because it works with the audience. Our films usually have humour that comes from punch dialogues or slapstick comedy. Purusha Pretham has comedy arising from dialogues, slapstick, subtle humour, the music etc. The attempt has been to make the narrative as entertaining as possible so as to make the dark theme – ghosts, dead bodies etc – palatable for the audience,” he says.
Prasanth Alexander, slowly evolving as a bankable character actor, performs the protagonist. “He is a fabulous actor. However, nobody was willing to invest in a film headlined by him,” Krishand says. Prasanth himself stepped in as a producer and in addition introduced in Einstin Media (Einstin Zac Paul). Jeo Baby, who was impressed with Avasavyuham, got here on board along with his producers from Mankind Cinemas. Symmetry Cinema (Vishnu Rajan and Sajin Raj) additionally joined in. “I was given a free go and there was no interference from them. We sold the film [to SonyLIV] and the problem was solved,” Krishand says.
Avant garde filmmaker
While Vrithakrithyilulla Chathuram gained the Kerala state award for greatest background music, Aavasavyuham gained two awards at the International Film Festival of Kerala 2022 and state awards for greatest movie and greatest authentic screenplay.
Among Krishand’s works are the net collection Utsaha Ithihasam and Kraya Vikriya Parikriya; brief movies Sinners at the Goddess Abode , Cherumarangal, Mombattiyaan, Flames, Ghoda 22, and Bhagavathikaavile Paapikal; and a documentary Waterbodies.
Darshana Rajendran, Jagadeesh, Mala Parvathy and Devaki Rajendran, apart from a number of artistes from his earlier movies, similar to Rahul Rajagopal and Zhinz Shan are in the solid.
Post-modern narrative
Krishand emphasises that individuals shouldn’t anticipate the out-of-the-box expertise that they had in Avasavyuham in Purusha Pretham as nicely. “It is a totally different film with a proper narrative, unlike Avasavyuham, which had a cohesive philosophy, form and content. Some may find nothing new in this film. It has a post-modern narrative within the cinematic framework, with the whole thing designed in a fun way,” he avers.
Reflecting on his filmmaking fashion that has been extensively appreicated, Krishand factors out that “basically I design the content of my movies”, which has to do along with his background in communication design. He has accomplished his Master of Design in Visual Communication from IIT Bombay. “When you get a material, you have to come up with a medium to package that and it is designed for the end user,” he says.
Although he had deliberate to launch the movie in theatres, Krishand says the plan was dropped when the OTT deal got here by means of. “It was a sure-shot thing. Actually, I am not a Friday person. For me, it is about desirability, viability and feasibility, something which we relate to design,” he says.
Krishand with Prasanth Alexander on the location of Purusha Pretham
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Currently an adjunct professor at IIT Bombay, Krishand says that he needed to turn out to be a director after studying a ebook on the movies Forest Gump and Apocalypse Now at the British Library in Thiruvananthapuram, his house city. And since he grew up on graphic novels and had a aptitude to attract, he needed to turn out to be a graphic novelist ultimately. Later on, he fell in love with cinema and began watching all types of films. He, nonetheless, given his love for drawing, has drawn the scenes for Purusha Pretham as nicely.
Krishand has additionally accomplished the cinematography for the film shot in and round Ernakulam district. Music has been a robust level of his films. “I have a vision for the music I want in my films. This film has six songs composed by Ajmal Hasbullah and Malayalam rap is the highlight this time. I really want to compose someday but I know I don’t have that in me!” he chuckles.
Meanwhile, his subsequent venture will go on the flooring inside just a few months. “I did get offers to make a movie like Avasavyuham. It is not possible but I can definitely work on a similar narrative style. However, at the end of any discussion, producers often ask me if there is something simple! I tell them, the story is simple but it gets complicated when the visual communication elements come in. For the time being, I plan to work like this instead of going for safe cinema,” he says.
