Sugeeth’s Ordinary was no ordinary film. With a likeable story, straightforward narrative and some bewitching frames capturing the pristine charms of a mist-wrapped Gavi, the 2012 movie instantly became a hit. His oeuvre boasts Madhura Naranga and Shikkari Shambhu — the former, with equal measures of tangy entertainment and melodrama, was inspired by a true incident, while the latter enjoyed a good run at the box-office on account of its humour. Currently, his hands are full with promotion for his latest, Kinavalli , a horror fantasy film that has been receiving rave reviews. The 39-year-old from Ernakulam says, for now, he’s enjoying his moment in the sun.
Not one to sit through the restrictive atmosphere of a film school, Sugeeth says he “dived into the world of filmmaking” right after his school days. “Films have always been my passion. Even now, if you cut movies out of my life, I don’t know what else to do,” he says with a chuckle over phone from Ernakulam.
He remained patient. Learning the craft on the job by and by, the turning point came when Sugeeth came under the “tutelage” of director Kamal. Thus was born long years of fruitful “education and friendship” with the ace filmmaker before the pupil finally decided to take flight himself.
Sugeeth says even before movies commandeered his life, he was always fond of “making up stories.” This fascination has kept him in good stead, evident from the director himself developing the storylines for most of his works. But he, in no small measure, credits his assistants-cum-buddies — with Nishad Koya, first among equals — for fleshing out plots and coming up with complete scripts.
Director Sugeeth during the shooting of Kinavalli
Though Ordinary is probably his most well-received film yet — its success paving way for its remakes in Tamil and Telugu — Sugeeth says, his personal favourite is Madhura Naranga owing to its “deeper subject matter.” The film explores the obstacle-ridden love between a Malayali taxi driver and a Sri Lankan girl in West Asia. “As a director, I have a lot more attachment to the film. We faced quite a bit of limitations in making the movie, like budget constraints and the logistics of shooting a movie in West Asia. To be frank, only 60 per cent of what I had originally envisioned could be captured in Madhura Naranga ,” he remembers.
Sugeeth avers that he never thinks along the line of “hits and superhits” when he embarks on a project, instead focussing on trying to deliver his best as long as the subject matter interests him. That’s precisely the firm confidence he showed while opting to go for a cast of predominantly newcomers in Kinavalli . “It was just a wish to cast newcomers as I felt it would ideally fit the subject. It was also an attempt to bring in freshness in every aspect of the movie. I never create characters or make stories to suit any particular actor. For me, the story always comes first,” he says.
Having said that, he does speak volumes about the telepathy he seems to have developed with Kunchacko Boban, who has featured in the lead in four of his six movies so far. “I don’t really know why (laughs). Quite often, the films I helm end up suiting Chackochen. When I work with him now, it doesn’t feel like doing a movie per se but more like a get-together. He offers me all the freedom. He knows what I want from him and I know how he would do a particular scene,” says the voluble director.
Director Sugeeth
Having proved his mettle with wielding the megaphone, Sugeeth now looks forward to “experimenting with” screenwriting himself “for the heck of it” on persuasion from his assistants. Ask Sugeeth about his other interests and he pauses, before ponderously answering “movies”, when not engaged in his business in Dubai.
But he is ever busy forming character sketches in his mind through keen observation where ever he goes. “Lets say, if I go to a mall, I seek out people’s mannerisms, movements, reactions. I can do that for hours. Sometimes, out of curiosity, I surreptitiously follow them if I find the ‘character’ interesting. This helps me in characterisations in my movies too,” he reveals.
The filmmaker says he uses his family as touchstone to ensure his characters on screen remain realistic. “I always show my films to my wife and my mother even before their preview screenings. Sometimes, I make necessary changes in the edits after getting their feedback. This way, I know beforehand how well my characters will be accepted by the theatre-goers.”
He says a couple of projects, one possibly with Biju Menon in the lead, is in the pipeline and he may do a film “in another language” (Tamil) but nothing has been finalised. “We also have offers for a remake of Kinavalli in Telugu but the deal is still being ironed out.”
Does he have any plans of donning the greasepaint himself? Sugeeth chuckles, stressing he prefers to look at the world only through the viewfinder. So, having sort of mythified a gorgeous Gavi, did he set his foot in the place again, this time for leisure? “That’s the irony. I have never been able to revisit, though I think I have indirectly given jobs to a lot of people, thanks to the tourism boom there since.”
Considering how busy Sugeeth has been, it’s nothing out of the ordinary.
