Malayalam short film ‘Oru Poocha Paranja Katha’ tells the story from a cat’s point of view

Oru Poocha Paranja Katha (Life of Mottu) is the communicative of a feline called Mottu. The movie is Mottu’s POV. “It is his communicative truthful helium gets to archer it,” says the director, Arjun Ajith. Given that cats, dissimilar dogs, are notoriously hard to train, Arjun has pulled disconnected thing of an entertaining miracle.

The abbreviated movie starts with Mottu coming to his ‘master’s’ spot arsenic a kitten with 2 different kittens, Chotu, who dies not overmuch later, and Chikku. As the 2 cats turn up together, Mottu develops a crush connected Chikku who is successful ‘love’ with different feline successful the neighbourhood. The movie pans connected however Mottu copes with heartbreak via the ‘traditional’ way of slipping into ‘alcoholism’ earlier uncovering himself. “It was not alcohol, conscionable achromatic tea,” Arjun clarifies.  

“I tried grooming the cats, but I wasn’t excessively successful. I past started signaling footage implicit 2 phases, determination is truthful overmuch of it now: astir 10 hours oregon so. I decided to support it astatine a abbreviated and crisp 14  minutes. Initially I besides thought of it arsenic a mockumentary. There was a script, of course, for this abbreviated film,” says Arjun, who filmed the cats connected an iphone during the pandemic. It was the enactment of 2 and a fractional years, “and during the making the kittens grew up.”   

The filming was not creaseless due to the fact that Mottu disappeared for six months. “We had nary hint wherever helium had disappeared to. With that filming paused for the duration. When we recovered him helium was emaciated and limping; helium had to beryllium nursed backmost to health. However, we filmed him successful that information — arsenic the heartbroken Mottu.” Since Arjun has moved retired of the location helium was surviving successful astatine the time, helium does not cognize wherever Mottu and friends are. One of the calls that helium got was from manager Lijo Jose Pellissery, who was funny astir however Arjun had managed to movie the cats.

The comic effect is achieved, without question, by histrion Sarat Sabha who has dubbed for Mottu. Sarat’s voice, the dialog delivery, elevates the movie bringing successful humour to the action. “Several people, including immoderate actors dubbed for the role. But someway it wasn’t coming together. However, erstwhile Sarat offered to springiness it a changeable I thought, wherefore not? He spent 1 time connected it and it came retired well.”  

The movie has travelled to a fewer movie festivals specified arsenic Navarang National Film Awards wherever it won a fewer awards, Mumba Film Festival (special assemblage grant and champion concept), and the Pan Asian Film Festival. Other abbreviated films directed by Arjun are Chithra, Maruthu, Njaan Ponmutta Edunna Poovan Kozhi, and Aanathra, which is nether production. He has besides directed the Malayalam movie Marathon apart from a documentary movie Perumbavoorinte Thanima.

Oru Poocha Paranja Katha is streaming connected YouTube