With his critically acclaimed short films Vinod Bharathan stands out from the crowd. We meet the director in blithe spirits talking about his latest venture Karma Cartel – a Dogme95 attempt in Malayalam!

The awards and accolades this unconventional director has garnered in the International film festivals prove that critics and audience have taken his small films in a big way. Copenhagen-based moviemaker Vinod Bharathan is breaking all rules related to short-film making.   ‘Limbo’, a three minutes long short film taken using a simple iphone recently won the ‘best film shot using a mobile device’ award at the IndieFone Festival, U.S.A. The first film in the Karma sequel ‘Karma Code’, was nominated at the International Film Festival Ahmedabad 2011. ‘The Suspect’, a thriller, was the official selection at the Google+ Live Online Film Festival.

Realism is an attempt to express, devoid of artificiality. What inspired you to make a movie of this genre? 

Realism in films is a broad term and has several classifications. Karma Cartel belongs to ‘Realism of Style’, primarily focusing on visual style, acting-style and mise-en-scéne. I began studying films only after moving to Denmark. The film and television culture of Denmark that revisits the roots of their film culture, made it easy for me to learn European film culture from my couch. After graduating from film school, I made short films of various genres and often found myself using the realism method too often. Both the short films made in India, Karma Code and Karma Currency, used realism, and it is all too natural that Karma Cartel follows that pattern.

Introducing a totally different genre also brings out the change in characterization. How has that been approached? 

Since I was educated this way, nothing of me had to be changed. But the Indian actors I worked with had to take the daring step into the unknown.

‘Karma Cartel’ has been enthused by a plethora of directors. As a director yourself, what is the one aspect that stands out in your direction?

As a director I’m uncompromising. But this must not be mistaken for stubbornness. All the time while in film school, we were brainwashed with this mantra ‘Kill your darlings’. It didn’t make sense to me while in school, and I thought that my teacher was tripping high on it. But in a while when I started making short films applying that mantra, I could see the difference. Four years of practice has made me a ruthless killer of my darlings.

A reference to one of the darlings you slaughtered…..

That shot of the cityscape of Kochi filmed from a helicopter, that doesn’t serve purpose to the film narrative – delete it!

In your creative space, how important are factors like music, craft or even the appearance of posters help in attracting the viewers?

Film is an audio-visual experience. Even during the days of silent films, they used to play live or recorded music while screening. Any visual paired with the right music can induce an emotion or essence if used expertly. Music is the stronger part of the audio-visual experience. This is because we can envisage a visual that is not on the screen, but you cannot imagine music in the same place.

What about those attention-grabbing posters?

I design my own posters. Since there was no need for multiple formats of posters for my web-based films, I managed to design most of them myself. But lately, I was introduced to Vivek Vilasini, well know artist from Kerala, who wanted to create an artwork based on the characters of Karma Cartel. The completed work is now being displayed in an art gallery in Mumbai.

What made you break one of Dogme95 rules?

The film was framed against a lesser-known urban city scape of India. So the only way we could induce the “Indian essence” was by adding music, distinctly recognizable to them as ‘Indian’. But when we broke that Dogme 95 rule, we did it in style. London based radio D.J. Sharnita Athwal, the music supervisor for Karma Cartel, assembled an outstanding selection of underground music from British-Indo artists like Adi Sharma, Juttla, Shammi Pithia, Rita Morar, Nitesh Batra and Praveen Achary.

“It’s not just a film but an experience,” In the end what’s your view on how the viewers should approach the film? 

We had held a preview screening in London. The audience at the London preview screening had a mix of film-enthusiasts and some of them who came to watch a “Malayalam film” were left wondering how to describe the film. Someone who quoted, ‘It’s not just a film but an experience’, saved the moment and gave us a tagline.

What is your opinion on the success of feature films viewership in Kerala?

The Kerala film audience goes for movies like how they set out to watch a football or a cricket match. They go to cheer a winning team. And that is why super stars films are doing well. When an Indian pays ‘X’ amount of rupees to sit in a dark hall for 3 hours, he expects someone familiar on the screen to keep his heart warm throughout the film, failing which will only make him infuriated and spread hate.

You did say ‘we are a growing community’. What waits for those who are attracted to join your artistic community?

All passion, no pay LOL

Haven’t you named the movement yet?

Soon after graduating from the Film School of Copenhagen, I tried my luck at the National Film School of Denmark. I could not apply further or receive stipend since I held on to my Indian citizenship. But at the same time, one of my Danish classmates from the film school got in. It takes 4 years to graduate from the National Film School. So I created a production company (movement) called Fookdat Productions and promised to make my first feature film before he graduated from the National Film School – and I did.
Your Red carpet experience at the Cannes Film Festival….

Anyone with a decent short film and sufficient cash to fund the travel and accommodation to France for a week can walk the Red Carpet of Cannes Film Festival. LOL!

Can we be expecting another unconventional flick sometime soon?

You can only expect unconventional flicks from me.

Quickies

Someone who helped to nourish your creativity……

The Internet

How helpful has travelling been for your career…..

I travel less. I shoot in my backyard and edit it in my kitchen (Not kidding).

Have you tried out some Scandinavian food anytime?

My wife is Scandinavian.

How do you single out the caliber of an artiste in performing a commercial film and an art film?

I always compare them to Bharath Gopy.
How tough was it for you to choose the artists for this film?

It was very easy. The closest friend of mine for almost 20 years, Suraj Ramakrishnan and Vinay Forrt helped in casting. Both of them have been associated with my filmmaking career in India since 2010.
As a director, the genre of movies you don’t much take pleasure in…..

”The films that neither entertain nor educate”