Aattam director reflects on his journey, working on Imtiaz Ali’s Tamasha, assembling daily wage theatre actors and eyeing Oscars

In an interview with Indianexpress.com, Anand Ekarshi breaks down the process of writing and filming Aattam, how he assembled non-film actors, most of whom are daily wage earners, and why the team, which earlier was contemplating making just a short film, is now daring to dream bigger. “We were not even aspiring for a feature, but now there’s no limit to one’s dreams and aspirations,” Anand says, as he talks about the film, streaming on Prime Video.

Edited excerpts:

Aattam is produced by Ajith Joy under the banner of Joy Movie Productions.

Who broke the news to you about the National Award win?

I was in Bengaluru the night before when I got calls from some media houses that there was a strong chance that the film might win. I thought I might as well fly to Kochi and be with my team if something came up. I was watching the live press conference with my editor. Honestly, I thought maybe Aattam would get the best regional film honour, but when that didn’t happen, I thought ok, we are not getting anything. But when the awards started to come, I was teary-eyed.

What is the road ahead now, is India’s official Oscar entry on your mind?

Now that the National Award has happened and we were also the opening film at IFFI, I hope we are in the discussion. It will be a beautiful thing for Aattam, if an official entry is announced. Now that the National Awards have happened, there’s no limit to one’s dreams and aspirations. So, of course, considering how it has been in the past where winning a national award is a huge factor for consideration that I have come to know, I hope something good comes out.

If you can rewind a bit, you started your journey interning as an assistant director on Imtiaz Ali’s Tamasha!

Yes, I did (laughs). There was a national-level competition to shoot a film on a mobile phone and the winner would get to work with Imtiaz as an assistant director. I won that contest and out of nowhere, I was on the sets of Tamasha in Mumbai! By the time I joined, they had already shot half of it, including the Corsica portions. So, I was with them for about 40 days, and it was my first film set — big studio, a huge number of people, big stars so it was an unforgettable experience.

Imtiaz Ali is a calm man, a very Sufi-like person, he has a different approach to mentor you. I was around him and learned so much. I also learned a lot from Ravi Verman, who is a passionate man. The advice I got from Imtiaz Ali and Ravi Verman changed my perspective about filmmaking. I am sure he doesn’t remember, but I do! When I was starting Aattam, I had sent him a text and he had wished me well.’

You were writing another movie when you dropped that idea and made Aattam. Why?

All the actors, except for Zarin Shihab and Kalabhavan Shajohn, are my friends, whom I have known for 20 years. We were all theatre actors in a group called Lokadharmi in Kochi. During COVID, all of us, including Vinay Fort, went for a one-day trip and there he told me how he wanted to help his fellow theatre actors. Almost 8 of the theatre actors you see in the movie work for daily wages. One is a painter, the other an auto driver, one is a tile helper. Vinay asked if I could direct a movie with these people in the cast. So it was Vinay’s initiative to bring his fellow theatre actors to the movies.

I was moved by his intent and was ashamed that I didn’t think about these guys to cast when I was writing that other film. It took me three and a half months to write it. I knew it could be difficult to get a producer as I am new and so is the cast of 8-9 people.
I borrowed Rs 1.50 lakhs from my friend and we shot a 10-minute scene, with proper lights, sync sound, and film camera. Then I started showing this pilot to producers. Ajith Joy was the second producer I met and the moment he heard the story, he was on board..

Did you start shooting immediately?

The movie manifested quickly. I finished 80 percent of the script in three months and the last 20 minutes of the movie were written on sets! I used to write every night whatever dialogues were required for the next day. We shot the film for 26 days and the last play was filmed after about three months. We wanted the actors to have a look change. That was just a two-day shoot.

Did you already have the end in mind?

Yes. I was thinking about how I could make a film with all these 11 men as leads and give them prominent roles. I got the entire story when I was taking a 15-minute shower! Suddenly the story came to me and I decided to use their real theatre background and show them as actors. I wanted it to be an engaging crime drama, and then I thought about what the crime could be. I was keen to explore the philosophy, and psychology of the movie and wanted to get that right.

I wanted to make a movie about the dynamics of a group vs the dynamics of an individual. To explore how a group behaves towards a crime and what happens to an individual, who is detached from the same group. I thought if I have 11 men, let them be a group and if the individual is a woman, then the contrast would be interesting. Then came the crime. All of this, including the climax, came to me in the 15-minute shower.

Performing on stage is wildly different than acting in front of the camera. How did you brief your actors?

That was the biggest challenge. Most of them had never been on a film set. This was a dialogue-heavy, performance-oriented film and I couldn’t expect them to be at their best if I took them to the sets on day one of the shoot, with so many people around, lights, and cameras on sets. It could be intimidating.

So, we did around 35 days of rehearsals with the camera. Seventy percent of the scenes were vigorously rehearsed before the shoot so that it appears that they are spontaneously speaking in that situation. That helped them understand how to work for the shot, and camera and keep in mind the continuity. We did a week of rehearsal on the actual set as well, so that helped.

How are they feeling now, with the big win and the plans ahead?

It is surreal. We started with a small dream. We had even thought of doing a short film, not even aspiring for a feature. We just wanted to do something together, showcase the talent of the people. Something that began so small is now big. We competed with the biggest of the names, Kantara, and Ponniyin Selvan and to be at the national level, they are all overwhelmed. This is something we couldn’t even dream of.