mid-day's 42nd anniversary: From script to screen, to screen, to screen...

Mahesh Narayanan 39Experimental Malayalam short CU Soon became critically acclaimed and Indiarsquos first computer screen filmMalayalam filmmaker Mahesh Narayanan has a Salman Khan connection Both have made a film inspired by the same event mdash plight of Indian nurses held hostage in Tikrit Iraq in 2014To gauge how two movies on the same subject from the same year 2017 can be so different you only have to watch Narayananrsquos Take Off starring superstar Fahadh Faasil and the Khanstarrer Tiger Zinda Hai It was during research for Take Off in 2016 that Narayanan and his actorproducer Faasil came across online a disturbing distress video in Malayalam shot on phone from a home in Qatar basis which the Indian embassy acted upon to rescue the said girlFaasil proposed the video as a script of its own It was just his vision Narayanan recalls Both moved on to do the crimedrama Malik together which eventually dropped on Amazon Prime Video July 15 2021 after the pandemicrsquos second wave Itrsquos when Kerala like rest of India went on the first lockdown March 2020 that Narayanan had this thought about lsquoWork from homersquo ldquoIn most professions you can WFH A film industry canrsquot make films from home now can itrdquoMahesh Narayanan could set CU Soon in UAE as most Kochi homes are inspired by Dubai interiorsOr maybe it can Faasil reminded him of that solely SOS videobased idea mdash maybe therersquos a WFH film there that simply stays within screens ldquoBut nobody knew what a screenbased film could be likerdquo Narayanan saysThe type of course exists Itrsquos called the computerscreen film ldquoRussian director Timur Bekmambatov is widely considered brand ambassador of screenbased moviesrdquo Narayanan had seen Bekmambatovrsquos Unfriended 2014 available on Netflix mdash seminal movie of the subgenre Likewise Mike Constanzarsquos Collingswood Story 2006 considered the first He wrote a script for a short film mdash of a guy Roshan Mathew who falls in love with a girl Darshana Rajendran having only met her on a dating app even introducing her to his parents over screen And then she disappears while his cybersecurity expert cousin Faasil investigates the caseBut how do you take this script to screen after screen Where multiple personal tech devices serve as both lenscamera for the movie as also therefore the canvas All action taking place inside screens mdash visibly a metaphor for our own lockdown livesAs Narayanan narrates you basically point the camera on an actor on a phonelaptop while they respond to lines from another actor whorsquos supposed to be on the other screen but is behind the camera The emotional depth of performance gets maintained And you matchplay with imagesFaasilrsquos apartment in Kochi became the filmrsquos central location They rented another flat in the same building for a second location plus cast and crew ldquoHeadcount was 15 and at no point over 42rdquo And Narayanan managed to set the story in a lsquoforeign locationrsquo UAE ldquoBecause a lot of topend Kochi interiors Faasilrsquos apartment included are inspired by architecture from Dubairdquo Which is also the repatriated wealth theyrsquore built onHerersquos what Narayanan didnrsquot account for ldquoIn a regular movie script a page equals a minuterdquo Screen time gets condensed through multiple camerasanglesshots Not so with a computerscreenCU Soon with a 6065 page script is a 98minute movie This is how an experimental short became Indiarsquos critically acclaimed first lockdown mainstream feature as it were while Narayanan learnt technique alongside ldquoThe workflow is different And I had no template Collingswood Story took two years to make We started CU Soon in April released it in September 2020 on Amazon PrimerdquoHe could also pull this off being a prolific filmeditor by training mdash an important BTS aspect for a film like CU Soon That Indiarsquos first lsquocomputer screenrsquo film came from a corner in Kochi is becoming progressively obvious If anything Mallu movies have been the global toast since the pandemic what with The New Yorker going gaga over Joji 2021 and The Guardian calling ldquoMalayalam cinema Indiarsquos rapid response unit for COVID filmsrdquo Narayanan says ldquoMalayalam films were always great even in the rsquo80s Itrsquos just that OTT platforms have given them global access This attention means a lot of responsibilityrdquo