Kannada film ‘Writer?’ making waves

‘Writer?’, a Kannada short film, has been making waves ever since its premiere on January 22. The 18-minute experimental film, directed by Murali Krish, and produced by Ishi Studios, has had three houseful screenings so far at Suchitra Film Society.

Starring Abhilash, Rajan, Rupesh and Ganesh, the film tells the story of a struggling writer who is tackling the challenge of a tight deadline. He is tasked with writing a script based on what happens in his life for three hours in a day by a producer.

“The soul of the film is very philosophical,” Murali tells Showtime. “When we believe that we are all stories, then there should be someone who is writing our stories in life. Who is that person? Where is he? Why would he make us do certain things? I wanted the audiences to think on these questions,” he adds.

‘Writer?’ keeps you hooked right from the start. The film’s complexity lies in the screenplay as the writer’s actions are presented on screen by three performers. “The film had more than 450 shots. Every shot was written down to ensure continuity of the actors,” says Murali, who wrote the script with Abhilash.

Jeevan, who has shot and edited the film, stands out for his precision. “There are few long shots which seem continuous but they have multiple cuts in them and have been edited precisely. The post production of the film took three months as we experimented a lot on the editing table,” explains the director.

‘Writer’? has minimal dialogues yet it keeps us invested thanks to the background score by music director and sound engineer Srinidhi.

Ishi Studios, founded by the short film’s actors Rajan, Abhilash and Rupesh, was launched with a music video called ‘Gamya’, on YouTube in January 2022. The banner is now working on its first feature film, which is in the pre-production stage. Rajan is set to play the lead in the film. Two short films are also lined up from the studio.