Sivabalan Muthukumar Interview: Kavin’s ‘Bloody Beggar’ and the Quest for Making a ‘Right’ Film
Sivabalan Muthukumar; With Kavin on the sets of ‘Bloody Beggar’ Photo credit: Special Arrangements
Sivabalan Muthukumar wants to say and do everything the ‘right’ way. You ask the debutant director the question that cinephiles often dread — which films best define the film buff in them — and he struggles to settle on a limited number of titles. Expand from his list Life is beautiful And Gyan Ali from Roman holiday And Full of luxuryBut she doesn’t seem too pleased with his response. Sivabalan wants to talk about himself, his influences and his journey in films in the most honest way possible. And you also see this quest for perfection when he talks about making his first film, bloody beggarWhich is going to release on Diwali
Titled by Kavin, the film is produced by director Nelson Dilipkumar, who has assisted Sivabalan for over a decade.
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You have traveled quite a long way with your Nelson. Can you share a little about what it taught you?
Joining Sir Nelson was accidental; I wanted to make a film and thought I knew everything about films. I was suggested by a cinematographer to join Nelson sir as an AD for an advertisement. But I soon realized that I had a lot to learn. The way Nelson sir viewed commercial movies is an eye opener. Even then his ideas were quite unfussy and he knew how to connect with the audience. But it felt disappointing to see someone so talented wait so long for his break. That’s when he got his break in 2017 Kolamavu KokilaIt was like a huge confidence boost for all of us.
What about ‘Bloody Beggar’ gave you confidence that it would connect well with the current generation of viewers?
I tried to pitch this story many times but got rejected. At some point, after so many attempts, I started analyzing how to do it right. With each rejection, you learn to objectively see why the script was not selected by the producer. I continued to work again and I wanted to do this film because I believe it will give the audience a new experience.
We coined the term commercial cinema because these films were not confined to one genre. In Tamil, commercial cinema took a completely new path in the early 2010s, thanks to filmmakers like Nalan Kumarsamy, Pa Ranjith and Karthik Subbaraj. bloody beggar It stems from a desire to make such an experiment in commercial cinema as it is not confined to a specific genre.
Sivabalan Muthukumar on the sets of ‘Bloody Beggar’ Photo credit: Special Arrangements
Given that Nelson is an established director and you worked under him as an assistant director, how did you establish creative boundaries with him?
Nelson sir is someone who will do no favors beyond friendship when it comes to cinema. Since a film will reach a wider audience, he values the reputation he has built in the industry. So he is very particular about the quality of the film. When I first described the screenplay to him, I just wanted his opinion, and maybe, put me in touch with a producer. After listening to the story, he realized that translating it to the screen required a good production team with a good story sense. That’s why he decided to produce it himself. Once we locked the protagonist and the shooting schedule, he let me do my own work.
How did you come up with the idea of writing a story with a beggar as the protagonist?
I had trouble building a story around a single protagonist. I used to write a story from multiple perspectives but to mount a project, you have to center it around a protagonist. Moreover, my story requires a big budget and you need a hero to secure such a budget. So I wanted to write an unusual hero, someone who is unlikely to be a hero, and that’s how I came up with the idea of writing a crooked beggar as the main character.
A still from ‘Bloody Beggar’ Photo credit: Special Arrangements
Have you ever thought that the crooked beggar, who fakes disability for alms, would attract criticism?
Obviously, because there are many of them who are really struggling. I would have thought that writing such a character would affect the audience differently; If they start suspecting beggars of faking their handicaps. But then, when you think about it on a deeper level, as humans we are so used to this that even when you see a disabled beggar, you immediately suspect that they are faking it. That natural thought process made me write such a character in the first place. Also, this film is only about what this particular character does; You will find many others around him who will brave all their difficulties to live an honest life.
Kavin and Sivabalan Muthukumar on the sets of ‘Bloody Beggar’ Photo credit: Special Arrangements
Why did you cast Kavin in the lead role?
I didn’t want to go for generic names when you think of the best actors in Tamil cinema who can play such roles. I wanted fresh casting that allowed the actor to explore a new side of himself. For some reason, I kept thinking about Kavin but was initially hesitant because people might think I’m picking on him because I know him personally. But I keep going back to him because I believe it’s a character from a silent film – he has a cartoonish body language – that I knew I could get out of Kevin.
What kind of filmmaker do you want to be in the future?
I want to see how the audience reacts bloody beggarAnd only through that reception can I judge whether what I believe about filmmaking is correct. I need to get that clarity. That will determine what kind of film I make next. I just want to make the ‘right’ picture.
When I talk about making a ‘proper’ film, I don’t mean translating it to the screen. I want the effort we put in to translate to the screen. This, again, may not always be the case, but I want my efforts to be true. That’s what making a proper film is all about.
Bloody Beggar releases in theaters on October 31
has been published – October 29, 2024 05:09 pm IST