Reimagining movies as television shows falls short in several ways: Reetha Vysakh

As main assistant director, Vysakh Reetha, an aspiring filmmaker, has appeared in every film directed by Krishand, including ‘Aavasavyuham: The Arbit’ Documentation of ‘An Amphibian Hunt’ (2022) and ‘Purusha Pretham’ (2023). With ‘Sambhava Vivaranam Naalara Sangham’ (The Chronicles Of The 4.5 Gang), an upcoming Malayalam web series that will broadcast on SonyLIV, Vysakh has now assumed the position of an independent showrunner.

Vysakh, a native of Trivandrum, first became interested in storytelling as a young kid. “I became interested in the art of storytelling after seeing Singeetam Srinivasa Rao’s ‘Pushpaka Vimana’ (1987),” Vysakh continues. Following his education in Trivandrum, he attended Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh to study business before enrolling in a film directing program at ESRA, a prestigious film school in Paris.

When Vyshak met director Krishand in 2014, his career as a filmmaker took a dramatic change. He says, “At the time, neither of us had many godfathers to lean on for support. We were both struggling.” While she had been working with Krishand from the beginning, their higher-level collaboration began with the latter’s first feature, ‘Vrithakrithiyulla Chathuram – A Minor Inconvenience’ (2020). According to him, “Sungsuvinte Sangarsha Ghadana – The Art Of Warfare,” Krishand’s next action movie, is the only project for which he could not serve as chief associate director.

Like many others in his industry, Vyshak draws inspiration from legendary individuals like as Bharathan and Padmarajan. But ever since he entered the field, he has the utmost respect for Krishand. “I’ve been very inspired by his unorthodox approaches, mental clarity, and readiness to carry out projects as an independent filmmaker. He also helped me comprehend a lot of excellent foreign films on a deeper level.

Krishand has been fostering Sambhava Vivaranam Naalara Sangham (SVNS) for about ten years. It was also offered as a feature film to many people before OTTs began to show interest in Malayalam material, but the majority of them were unable to comprehend it. Our team was among the first to get an invitation from SonyLIV when they indicated interest in introducing unique Malayalam content. “We were given the chance due to the advice of our editor, K Sasikumar. We ultimately went into production after around two and a half years after the SonyLIV execs loved our presentation.

After several revisions, their script was finally accepted after more than a year of work. “The SonyLIV decision-makers review our drafts and make suggestions or ask questions to help them understand the meaning of specific scenes,” he says. Although some would consider this approach excessively demanding, Vysakh believes it allows both the performers and the producers to film the material with perfect clarity.

They suggested doing a two-season run on SVNS, and Vysakh says they’ve already gotten the go-ahead for a third season. Anoop Mohandas, Jagadish, Indrans, Sanju Sivram, Darshana Rajendran, Zarin Shihab, Vishnu Agasthya, Santhy Balachandran, Prashanth Alexander, Hakkim Shahjahan, Rahul Rajagopal, Sreenath Babu, Niranj Maniyanpilla Raju, Zhinz Shan, and Hakkim Shahjahan are among the actors that appear in the ensemble cast of the show.

Six episodes, each lasting around 45 minutes and written and directed by Krishand, make up the first season of SVNS. “SVNS is a quirky gangster drama,” Vysakh explains, going on to clarify that it’s more of a fun-filled dark comedy and drama based on several actual tales that occurred in Trivandrum than the typical gangster stories that are heavy on murder or bloodshed. As the title suggests, one of the five characters in the story is a dwarf.

The narrative follows these five slum-dwelling main protagonists as they dive into the floral mafia around temples and other peculiar industries in an attempt to win over the people. With this program, we have also explored the topic of developmental politics. The series is currently under production, with a completion date of May. Speaking further about his new position at SVNS, Vysakh says, “My job as a showrunner is to serve as a liaison between the director, streaming platform, and production studio.

I have the last say over all series decisions, from the first pitch to the last output submission. Other important facets of my work include overseeing the money’s allocation throughout many divisions and making sure the series adheres according to the authorized concept. In addition, I ensure that the show complies with the Standards and Procedures (SAP) norms of the platform and achieves all deadlines. I am in charge of writing, directing, and the whole production process, in contrast to some other Malayalam showrunners who just concentrate on some aspects of the craft.”

Vysakh comments, “It often poses a challenge to the creative process but considering the potential legal concerns that may arise for the platform, exercising caution is necessary.” in response to the question of whether the streaming platform’s SAP turns out to constrain the creative vision. For example, one cannot use their own logo while playing a corrupt police officer connected to the Kerala Police because of the possibility of legal action.

Even if he believes that many of the series that have been released thus far fall short of expectations, Vysakh, as a showrunner, believes that long-format storytelling in Malayalam has a bright future. One significant flaw in a lot of the Malayalam programs from this first wave is that, in order to display the story as a series, it is often divided into episodes rather than being reimagined as full films. He is optimistic that this would probably change as time goes on, however, since there are a lot more exciting Malayalam programs planned. He also believes that prospective authors would have plenty of possibilities as a result of this change.

He is also getting ready for his directing debut, which is written by Ajith K. Haridas, a famous Purusha Pretham. The scripting for this historical mystery play is currently ongoing. Vysakh said, “I intend to start filming by the end of this year.”