King of Kotha director Abhilash Joshiy lists his favourite gangster films; discusses his father’s view on KoK: ‘He felt that it was…’

“Kauravar is definitely a personal favourite of mine, and I also like Vada Chennai a lot. But the thing about Vada Chennai was that it was created on a small scale, set in a small colony. When it came to envisioning Kotha, I wanted it to be grander in scale. While it would have been easier for us to create Kotha within a smaller environment, perhaps renting just five acres and building sets, my aspiration was to depict Kotha in a visually captivating manner. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that I didn’t draw from specific references or adhere to any particular stylistic conventions of movies that I watched earlier while crafting the King of Kotha,” Abhilash says.

On his equation with his father

Ahead of King of Kotha’s release itself, Abhilash had acknowledged that the high level of anticipation surrounding him posed a significant challenge. These anticipations were primarily due to his surname, Joshiy, which belonged to the filmmaker responsible for some of Malayalam cinema’s most significant and unforgettable movies, including Kauravar. He mentioned that people expected his first film to be like the 100th film of his father.

Abhilash, however, underscores that he too is a fan of the legendary filmmaker. He, nevertheless, says that cinema seldom cropped up as a topic of discussion between them during his formative years.

Abhilash Joshiy with his father and legendary filmmaker Joshiy. (Image: Abhilash Joshiy/Instagram)

“My dad kept films away from home. Once he returned after work, he never discussed films. He wasn’t the type of person who would sit down and have conversations with me about movies. Hence, our interactions focused on other subjects, unrelated to cinema,” he says.

On legendary filmmaker Joshiy’s views on King of Kotha

Abhilash stresses that a significant shift occurred in his relationship with Joshiy when they began collaborating professionally. Abhilash had taken on the role of creative director in his father’s films Porinju Mariyam Jose and Paappan. He notes, “Once I started working with him, we began engaging in conversations about movies. We started discussing the creative aspects too and I began asking him questions to understand why certain scenes were approached in specific ways and so forth.”

Ace filmmaker Joshiy (Image: Abhilash Joshiy/Instagram)

When enquired about Joshiy’s reaction to King of Kotha, Abhilash mentioned that even though his father hadn’t seen the final cut of the film, the renowned filmmaker had watched an earlier version of KoK. “He really liked the film,” Abhilash shares, adding: “He found it very engaging. He wasn’t critical of the film at all and felt that it was a commendable debut effort.”

On how his background in ad film industry proved helpful

After completing his basic education, Abhilash Joshiy enrolled at the Mindscreen Film Institute, established by Rajiv Menon in Chennai, to pursue a cinematography course. Following that, he assisted filmmaker VK Prakash in numerous advertising film projects.

Discussing how his background in the advertising film industry proved beneficial during the making of King of Kotha, Abhilash notes, “Advertising films rely on the extensive use of captivating visuals. The primary distinction between advertising films and their full-length counterparts is the need to convey a story within a brief time span in the former. Whereas, feature films do not face such constraints. What sets the visual language of advertising films apart is that everything looks nice; this is a quality I aimed to incorporate into King of Kotha as well.”

“My brief to production designer Nimesh M Thanoor was the same: I wanted every frame to resemble a painting. We dedicated extensive effort to ensure that even if a viewer were to pause the film at any given moment, that image would exude the same beauty as a painting. This will become apparent when the film has its digital premiere,” he adds.