Koozhangal (Pebbles) follows a poverty-stricken father named Ganapathy (Karuththadaiyaan) and his young son (Chellapandi) as they wander a southern Indian landscape where anger and frustration burn hotter than the sun. The 2021 Tamil language film premiered at the 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam and won the prestigious Tiger Award. I recently spoke with the writer-director P.S. Vinothraj about making Koozhangal.

Dipankar Sarkar: Tell me about your journey into the world of filmmaking.

P.S. Vinothraj: I can say that I had started my career in a DVD shop as a sales boy. I used to watch a lot of films from around the world without knowing the name of directors, and from those viewing experiences, I developed my preliminary understanding of cinema. At the same time, I was trying to get into the Tamil film industry and managed to join the director Sargunam and used to take part in the story discussing sessions. Later, I became a part of the film Manjapai, and that experience helped me a lot. But I still felt there was some incompleteness, as I was not convinced regarding the knowledge gained about filmmaking techniques. I was acquainted with a friend who was part of the post-modernist theatre group ‘Manal Magudi’ in Kovilpatti. I joined the group and worked for eight-10 months and learned the nuances of staging. It is there where I started to believe that through visuals I could communicate emotions very powerfully and perfectly. I credit the theatre group and director Murugu Boopathy for helping me to acquire the skills of filmmaking.

DS: What was your purpose behind making the short film Subway?

PV: I was not happy with the way the short films were made. They were very conventional, and so I wanted to make an impact and make it in the way I wanted it to be. I wanted it to be different in terms of style and treatment and not like the short films others make. It was made with a minimal crew of six-eight people. The recognition I achieved after making the film motivated me to make a feature film, with minimal crew resources and, most importantly, in an uncompromising manner.

DS: What inspired you to write a screenplay that chronicles a day in the lives of two individuals?

PV: I did not want the screenplay of the film [Koozhangal] to get inspired or influenced by the number of books or films I had read and seen so far. I wrote the script with whatever thoughts came into my mind without worrying much about the plot points. I have seen the lives and known these people, who were the characters in the script, for a very long time. And so I was able to sketch them as authentically as possible. A few people who had read the script before the shooting of the film had asked me to remove certain scenes, like the one with the mother character who travels on the bus with the baby, but I had refused to do so. I wanted it to be part of the script and shot it in that way. It was mandatory for the structure of the script, and even after the edit, I did not remove it.

However, the inspiration for the film came from a real-life incident. It happened such that my sister had a fight with her husband, and he sent her away from his home. My sister had to walk 13-14 km with a baby in her arms, to reach our home. This arduous journey of my sister prompted me to write the script. I could not fight with my brother-in-law then, and so I wanted to punish him with the same ordeal that my sister had to undergo, by making him travel the hot terrain. It was my revenge, which was shaped up in the form of the film.

DS: Tell me about the casting of Koozhangal.

PV: After the script was complete, the first character that came to my mind was that of the father, Ganapathy, and there could not have been a better choice for that role than Mr. Karuththadaiyaan, who was a part of the post-modernistic theatre “Manal Magudi.” He not only had rage but also the skin tone for the character of the father, though he was not convinced at the beginning. But he agreed to play the role after I had narrated the script to him, and he finally came on board. Whereas for the role of the little boy Velu (Chellapandi), several characters were auditioned in and around a lot of villages, but I could not find one. Then I started looking for families with a history of dysfunctionality where kids undergo such pain and trauma, like the one portrayed in the script. My logic behind such a decision was that a kid with such a background would be able to understand the character and deliver the performance up to the mark. When I discovered this kid, Chellapandi, his life was worse than the one mentioned in the script. His behavior was exactly the way I wanted it to be. I took him on board immediately.

In hindsight, it was such a judicious decision, because when I saw their performances in the dailies, it was so good that it motivated the crew for the next day’s shoot. It motivated us to work harder even more.

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DS: What was the significance of the location that plays such a vital role within the narrative?

PV: I [was] born and brought up in such a landscape, location and surrounding amid such people. Filmmakers haven’t captured these spaces and people perfectly on screen yet. I firmly believe that the time and space of a particular environment affect the behavioral characteristics of an individual. The rage and frustration within the character of Ganapathy were not the attributes he was born with. He was not an aggressive guy by birth, but the kind of environment he has lived in had made him how he has been portrayed within the film. And that is the prime reason why I had chosen such a landscape and location for the film. The name of the area is Arittapatti, which is 40 km away from Madurai. Even during the shoot, every day, one or the other members of the crew would behave like Ganapaty because of the heat and hot air of the region. It makes you muggy and frustrated. So, the landscape played the role of a character more than just a visual entity.

DS: Share your collaborative process with Koozhangal’s cinematographer and editor, who were also debutants like you.

PV: The two cinematographers of the film Vignesh Kumulai and G Parthiband, the editor Ganesh Siva and myself [have been] good friends for a long time. And I believed that this film [could only] be shot with the honesty by individuals who can understand me, and only then they will understand the film. And these people were the ones of whom I can trust with the responsibility of the film, and so I got them on board. I knew that I would require two cameramen for the shoot because of the scorching environment and landscape, which is not very friendly. Technically, there were long takes in the treatment of the film, so to finish the film on time was an essential decision.

Moreover, I believe that the technical crew should understand the feel and the emotion of the location to give [100] percent to the film. So, during our six-month-long [research process], we would just walk through the landscape for days meeting people, and finally the landscape gave us the vibe to go ahead and shoot. The contribution of the two cameramen in the film was phenomenal. There were times when the camera would heat up; the crew members would get irritated. But the two cameramen [pacified me] and made sure the shoot happened according to the schedule. Even for the particular 12-minute long take, both the two cameramen would pass the camera to each other in the blink of an eye. They displayed great coordination amongst each other.

Another boon was the presence of the editor on the location, which helped me to instantly edit scenes. It helped me immensely, to be sure, that I was able to extract the exact emotions from the characters.

DS: At what stage of the film did Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan came on board and how?

PV: The initial producer of the film was the Chennai-based production house Learn and Teach. But due to budgetary constraints, after 75 percent completion of the film in 2019, we couldn’t take it further. Then I got to know about the NFDC Film Bazaar, which is one of the biggest platforms created and organized to encourage collaboration between South Asian and international film communities. I applied and was fortunate to get selected. [Koozhangal] became the recommended film of 2019. I went there with my team and was not aware of how things work in the lab. Luckily, the Tamil filmmaker Mr. Ram was there as a guest for a masterclass. I showed him the trailer of the film and he [was] impressed. When he returned to Chennai, he called me to his office and I showed him whatever we had shot. Mr. Ram loved every bit of it, and he got me in touch with his close friends — actress Nayanthara and director Vignesh Shivan — and they were willing to watch the film. After watching the film, they loved it and wanted to know what kind of support was required to take it forward. There were some portions in the film which [needed] to be shot; the DI and sound mixing was also left. Both of them believed that the film had potential and should travel around the world. They helped finish the film and then decided to send it to the festival. But then the pandemic happened and film festivals around the world were closed. They were okay to wait for a year. In September, we sent the film to the Rotterdam Film Festival, and the rest is history.

DS: So, do you think that participating in NFDC Film Bazaar is important for budding independent filmmakers?

PV: When we had sent the film for Film Bazaar, we had no idea what benefits we would get out of it. But now I believe that such a platform is a place where the unfulfilled dream of an independent or niche filmmaker is fulfilled. I was lucky to meet a lot of people there, including curators and filmmakers from around the world. The platform encourages indie filmmakers and gives hope to them in pursuing their dreams.

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DS: How important is winning the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival?

PV: When we had sent the film to the film Rotterdam Film Festival, I again did not expect to get selected because I was not sure if the members of the selection committee would understand the story because it was so rooted in my native region. But yet somewhere within me, I believed that the subject and the theme of the film has a universal appeal, and my belief became true. The positive reviews that were showered by the media on the film after winning the prestigious Tiger Award were encouraging. The other benefit of the award is that now the film will get an opportunity to travel around the world and participate in various film festivals. People from different communities around the world will watch it too, which is an honor. But I am also excited about how the audiences in India are going to receive the film.

DS: Most of the big-budget mainstream Indian films are now releasing on OTT platforms rather than in theatres. So, what are your plans for the release and distribution of your film?

PV: Our priority is to let the film travel to as many film festivals as possible. Until then, we will hold the theatrical release of the film in India. Talks are going on with the film distributors. Also, this is still not a good time to theatrically release the film as the pandemic is still around. But as of now, the plan is first the film will release in theatres and then we will approach various OTT platforms. Also, we are planning for a limited release in multiplexes too. I hope that the situation will improve soon.

DS: Most of the recent Tamil films, in general, are almost three hours long in duration. But the narrative of your film wraps up within 75 minutes. Do you think this might be a hindrance for a theatrical release?

PV: I know that the theatrical release will be a challenge, but I have the complete support of my producers, as they believe it will be the first of many. It will also encourage other indie filmmakers to release and distribute their films with shorter durations. So, there is a scope for the film, as I strongly believe that there is always a first time. At the same time, nowadays Tamil films have come down to one hour and fifty minutes in length. So, things are changing and both my producers and I have high hopes for the release of the film in India.

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DS: What are the other festivals where the film is going to participate?

PV: We are getting invitations from film festivals around the world, which is quite encouraging. We are also identifying film festivals for regional premieres in North America.

DS: Would you like to mention some of these festivals?

PV: Film Festivals in places like San Francisco, Sydney, Melbourne, Shanghai, Durban… a couple festivals from Mexico, then the Lincoln Centre in London, Transylvania, Kyiv, Poland, Helsinki and Cork, amongst others.

Dipankar Sarkar is a graduate in film editing from the Film and Television Institute of India and currently based in Mumbai. As a freelancer, he frequently contributes to various Indian publications on cinema-related topics.