“Accidental filmmaker” might sound strange to some, but I think it’s the best way to describe my unexpected journey into filmmaking. Unlike those who dream of becoming filmmakers from a young age, my path was quite different. Here’s my story.
I’ve always been inclined towards the arts since my early school days, despite not coming from a family with any background in the arts. As I grew up and progressed through school, my interest in the arts evolved into a fascination with applied arts, design, and animation. After finishing senior school, I started looking for a media school to academically master graphics and animation. It was my dad who found an institute in Coimbatore named the School of Audio Engineering (SAE). They offered a dual diploma in multimedia and digital filmmaking. The multimedia program had to be completed in Coimbatore, and the filmmaking program at their Chennai campus.
And that’s how my accidental journey into filmmaking began.
Finishing my multimedia education in Coimbatore, I moved to Chennai to continue my studies in filmmaking. Chennai, hailed as the heart of South Indian cinema, was home to numerous film shooting studios, processing labs, and post-production studios. I should say cinema was in the air.
I received my joining date and enrolled in the filmmaking course at SAE, which was located in T Nagar, Chennai. Before long, I found a wonderful group of friends from my institute. They were all staying together, and I was fortunate that they invited me to stay with them. The apartment was right opposite the entrance to Kodambakkam Railway Station. The road emanating from Kodambakkam Railway Station bears the footprints of numerous individuals who have made their mark in the world of Indian cinema. Every Malayalee who loves cinema has heard and knows a lot of ‘Kodambakkam Stories.’ So, standing on the balcony and revisiting each story in my mind while looking at the well-known space became a new ritual for me!
Days passed, and our friendship grew stronger. Tea shops were the places where we all met up after college; cinema was the hot snack that complemented the hot teas! The tea makers always had a lot to say about many people who had made a mark in the field of cinema. When we asked about the tea shop workers’ backgrounds, we often learned that most of them had come to Chennai, eloping from their hometowns at a young age to pursue their dreams in the cinema industry. Unfortunately, they couldn’t achieve their dreams. But they were true fans of many superstars, living their lives for them.
My multimedia education helped me get into freelance projects while I was pursuing the filmmaking course. But my interest in filmmaking was growing slowly. The friends I made at film school were working on several AD film projects as assistant directors (ADs). Their support and camaraderie introduced me to new opportunities in filmmaking that I would have never encountered on my own.
One of the pivotal moments in my journey happened thanks to a close friend who introduced me to an ad film set at AVM Studios in Chennai. I met the director, and since I had a digital camera borrowed from another friend, he asked me to take some behind-the-scenes photos of the ad film shoot. I was completely awestruck by the scale of the production—the massive set, the sophisticated film camera, the skilled technicians, and the talented artists. Until that moment, I had no idea how much effort went into creating even short advertisements.
I felt like I was transported to another world, one I felt I should belong to. If you ask me what attracted me to the ad filmmaking process, I would say teamwork and the application of visual aesthetics. Secondly, for a short advertisement, we needed to tell a story in 30 or 40 seconds. That was challenging and, at the same time, interesting. The education and experience in multimedia helped me understand the post-production part more easily. But the pre-production and the shooting stage looked a bit challenging to me. So, I needed to assist someone in the ad shoots from the very initial stage so I could learn every aspect of it.
Driven by this newfound passion, I sought out every opportunity to be involved with ad film shoots. Whether it was assisting in minor roles or just being present on set, I immersed myself in the filmmaking process. Each experience, each project, and each connection further solidified my resolve to pursue filmmaking, even though it was never part of my original career plan.
After two years of assisting, I started working as an independent director on small projects. In my initial stages, my institute mates used to work in each department. As time progressed and with gained experience, I was fortunate enough to connect with some amazing agencies and clients. I began to work on quite big projects for some major clients in South India. This helped me to rope in some of the greatest talents as technicians for my projects. Most of the post-production work happened in major studios in Chennai and Mumbai. The learning curve I experienced with them helped shape my outlook on each film. I was fortunate to experience both the analog and digital periods of the filmmaking process. Now, it’s a completely digital era, and I miss shooting in the 35mm film format. Everything is technology-driven now, and things are both simple and complicated, which is what I feel. We need to keep ourselves updated about every aspect of what’s happening around the globe. Thoughts, trends, everything changes constantly, and we must adapt accordingly.
Looking back, my journey into filmmaking was truly accidental but wonderfully serendipitous. It wasn’t a childhood dream but rather a discovery that unfolded through a series of unexpected events and encounters. So, here I am, an accidental filmmaker, loving every minute of this unexpected adventure. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that sometimes the best things in life happen when you least expect them.
