Vineeth Sreenivasan interview: On directing ‘Karam’ and his attachment with thriller films

The trailer of Karam, which dropped retired of the bluish past month, alternatively stylishly and dramatically announced director-actor-producer Vineeth Sreenivasan’s adjacent directorial movie aft past year’sVarshangalkku Shesham.That helium was moving connected a film, fto unsocial that it was ready, was kept nether wraps. “It is precisely for this reason…for that constituent of surprise. We did not privation anyone to know; if connection got out, past accusation astir the movie would person besides got out, similar the communicative and the location! This way, radical could spell consecutive to the trailer and wonderment ‘How did that happen!’” says Vineeth, a tad gleefully implicit telephone from the UK.

Karam, which releases successful theatres connected September 25,looks precise antithetic from the signature, feel-good Vineeth Sreenivasan films, similar Thattathin Marayathu, Jacobinte Swargarajyam, Hridayam and Varshangalkku Shesham. With Noble Babu Thomas successful the lead, the 2 trailers person generated rather a spot of curiosity. “We person ensured that the trailer has been chopped successful specified a mode that thing is revealed.” All 1 gets from the trailer is that the movie was changeable successful a overseas country, and that it is action-packed.

But this overmuch Vineeth volition say: “It is astir however a antheral connected a ngo successful a overseas state survives and gets retired of that place. He is successful endurance mode and does what needs to beryllium done to get retired of determination alive.” He clarifies it is not a endurance thriller.

After Thira, Karam is the 2nd Vineeth-directed movie that wasn’t written by him; Noble, who is besides Vineeth’s long-time person from college, has penned the screenplay isolated from playing the pb role. “Noble had been moving connected this communicative for a while, and helium came to maine for feedback connected it. He had been intending to nonstop and enactment successful it. Over the adjacent 2 years, I person seen the progression of the draught and galore iterations of the story.” Vineeth had, anyway, been toying with the thought of a thriller, which is why, successful 2023, erstwhile the pre-production of Varshangalkku Shesham was on, helium asked Noble if helium could hold a year.

“I told him if helium could hold for a year, I would nonstop it. This movie I asked for myself,” helium says, laughing. Travelling with the communicative ties up with choosing Noble to play Dev Mahendran, the protagonist. “The full clip I heard the communicative and its versions, it was done Noble’s voice. I visualised him successful a subject series from the story, each dressed successful subject gear. This was adjacent earlier I committed to the project.”

The crushed helium chose the communicative harks backmost to his emotion for thriller films, helium confesses. “Though I ticker each kinds of films, I consciousness a definite attachment to thrillers. When it comes to films I enactment in, immoderate of my caller films similar Mukundan Unni Associates and Thankam were thrillers;I besides produced Helen, which was a endurance thriller.” 

Vineeth speaks of aspects of a thriller that entreaty to him and uses Helen, co-written by Noble, to exemplify his point. “It had a hook, which I recovered interesting. Now that Helen is stuck successful the freezer, however does she escape? That is the hook point. Similarly, for instance, similar successful the 1992 movie Malootty, the hook constituent is however they rescue the kid erstwhile she falls into a borewell. Karam too has one, and that drew maine to it,” adds Vineeth.

He enjoyed the prep-work, finalising the screenplay and the revisions and calls the process interesting, enhanced by his emotion of thrillers. The different thriller Vineeth directed was Thira (2013), which did not bash good successful theatres, but, similar galore films, recovered its pursuing with radical revisiting the movie

With astir 90% of the movie being changeable successful Georgia, parts of Azerbaijan and Russia, and parts of North India and Kochi, filming was a full different shot game, says Vineeth. “Filming was tough. We were connected different continent, the upwind was unpredictable, and we were moving with a overseas crew, astir of whom did not talk English. While shooting successful those countries, everything amended beryllium planned. If you get an impromptu idea, you conscionable fold it and enactment it backmost successful your pouch [laughs]. What we bash [Malayalam industry] is movie from, say, 6am to 9.30pm; you cannot bash that there. If the displacement starts astatine 9am, it has to extremity astatine 9pm. Lunch and remainder breaks, positive the clip spent trying to pass oregon close immoderate miscommunication and upwind changes, are each included successful it, which means the productive hours are highly limited!”

While these were what helium refers to arsenic the broader issues of making the film, determination were besides the ‘microscopic’ issues, similar the unit missing home. “Since I was 1 of the astir diligent radical connected the crew, I was determination for those arsenic well.”

On co-producing the film, helium says, “I knew the fund would beryllium huge, and I did not privation Visakh [Subramaniam] to instrumentality it each connected himself. We person not scrimped oregon chopped corners successful immoderate way.” Adding that this acquisition has been a learning curve for him and Visakh, Vineeth says they present cognize what it takes to movie successful Europe successful presumption of the overheads, budgets, visa procedures and different variables.

This is besides happens to beryllium the archetypal clip that Vineeth volition not beryllium successful the state for the merchandise of a movie of his — helium is successful the UK arsenic portion of a signifier amusement helium committed to a twelvemonth ago. “This movie has been galore firsts for me,” helium laughs.

“We had planned [before filming started] for Karam to merchandise earlier this year, successful April-May. We thought of filming successful October-November 2024. However, we could not get visas for immoderate of our crew. By the clip that was sorted, the upwind wasn’t perfect — not lone would it beryllium cold, but sunlight hours would beryllium less too. So, we ended up filming erstwhile we thought we would merchandise it, and that is however I americium here.”

He past adds, “Don’t archer Visakh, but I americium truly calm and astatine easiness here! Yesterday [September 21], we went for the signifier rehearsal, and it was truthful relaxed. I americium enjoying this; otherwise, if I were backmost home, I would beryllium overthinking and getting each worked up. I bask singing, and erstwhile I americium singing, I don’t deliberation of anything. But jokes apart, everything, including the censor certificate, was done by the clip I near connected September 17. The remainder volition beryllium taken attraction of by Visakh and my squad backmost home.

Since Karam is a thriller, a question astir the anticipation of a sequel to Thira is inevitable. He says determination was a screenplay helium liked, but it cannot beryllium done present since immoderate of the actors person grown up, and a mates of the actors person died. However, helium does privation to enactment with Shobana again. “If I spell to Shobana chechi and say, ‘Let’s bash a wacky film,’ she volition beryllium game. She is successful a abstraction wherever she wants to bash thing she has not done before, and I anticipation to someday bash that. Dhyan [Sreenivasan], however, is focused connected doing thing with Thira 2, and helium volition beryllium capable to bash it.”

Karam releases successful theatres connected September 25