I like layers in my stories: Raam Reddy

Raam Reddy, who rose to fame with the critically acclaimed Kannada film Thithi, is back with his second feature. Titled, The Fable, the film will have its world premiere at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival and compete in the Encounters 2024 segment. The Encounters competitive section was introduced in 2020 to support new perspectives in cinema.

The Fable, with Manoj Bajpayee in the lead role is about a family living in the India-Nepal border of the Himalayas. They own a sprawling estate of fruit orchards. At the onset of spring, there are mysterious fires in the orchards. Nobody knows who is starting them or why. Eventually, the fires lead to revelations.

The film was shot in Uttarakhand and is set in 1989. It was shot on film (celluloid) and is a US-India co-production.

In a conversation with Showtime, Raam talks about the making of the film and working with Manoj Bajpayee. 

What inspired you to write this?

Before I made Thithi, I had written a novel called It’s Raining in Maya, which was based on magical realism. When I was on a trip to the mountains, I felt the world there was quite conducive to play around with magical elements. I wanted to use it within a narrative. Once I had this setting, I spent more time there, taking in the world and turning it into my own world — a complete fiction. 

I even fought a (natural) forest fire with the locals once. It was interesting to build a narrative about a forest fire in the context of a Himalayan orchard. 

My first film was humorous, so I ventured to find out how gripping I can make a story with elements of mystery and suspense, while keeping it narratively alive and if I can hold the story like a slow burn. .

What themes have you explored in The Fable?

I like to have layers in my stories. I try to bring as many elements of life within a film, so it feels like you’re witnessing life itself. Ownership and land is one theme. It deals with the cross sections of society in that ecosystem. The film explores the family who own the entire space and their relationship with the people in the ecosystem — the manager, workers from neighbouring villages, domestic workers and a group of nomads.

Why are relationships the way they are, how the balance of an ecosystem shifts, and how human minds start functioning within the context of something that’s unknown are some themes. In that way, it was a psychological exploration of what happens when something like this takes place in a bubble, in a community.

There are other layers in the film that are deeper and personal to me. I've been into philosophy and meditation. There is a scene in the film where everybody is sitting around the bonfire. The mother sings ‘Shivoham’ and they all drop into a spontaneous meditation.

There’s this element especially within the main character who is comfortable and also a little complacent but there’s something more to life that he hasn’t figured out yet. And through the challenges he faces, he may figure something more. 

Thithi had non-actors. Why did you pick trained actors this time?

Non-actors typically play themselves. But when you’re trying to create something fictional, you need to have control over emotional notes, and narrative beats to a far greater degree and depth. My cast is phenomenal. Their ability to hit those notes and help me as a storyteller to translate my screenplay into a film was what I needed. I wanted that control. 

With non-actors, I have to work on their wavelength. But when we collaborate with an actor, we together create a wavelength and a new character comes to life. And we can use the character to play within the bounds of the screenplay.

How was it to work with Manoj Bajpayee?

Manoj is a master at what he does. His ability to transform into anything was why I pursued the opportunity to work with him. This role is different for him. He plays the estate owner and speaks mostly English. While working with him, I learned how to hold a thread or a note across the shoot which is typically shot out of chronology. His ability to hold on to the sur, the innerness of his character, is incredible. It helped me become more steady and I learned a lot through that process.

What are some of the challenges?

The pandemic was one of the biggest challenges. We shot it on film and we were stuck in the mountains during lockdown. So we had to get the film stock from the mountains to Mumbai via train.

We also shot during spring which is a fragile time of the year. You don’t know when the blossoms will bloom. How does one plan for that? It’s also a VFX-heavy film, which was quite challenging within the independent space.

Why did you choose to shoot it on film?

There are two things. The plot is set in 1989, so the film makes it look vintage. More importantly, in the process of creating art, there is a transfer of consciousness in some way. So, when you shoot on film, there is an actual chemical reaction between the light and film — the light bounces off the characters and reacts with chemicals in the film to turn it into an image. The grain in film, unlike digital, it’s alive. It changes from frame to frame. So those imperfections make film a living breathing medium.

What do you think of the Berlin nomination?

As cliché as it sounds, it’s a dream come true. (laughs) The amazing thing about A-grade festivals is that it’s one way of getting your film noticed, especially if it’s in competition. You get a quality stamp.

I worked really hard on the craft to get it as refined as I could. So it’s a validation of the craft. But beyond that, you need it for the rest of the film’s journey. Making the film is just half the journey, especially for indie films. Getting them seen across the globe is what you need to achieve. A nomination like this allows us to show our craft to people who can take it further.

When you look back, are there moments that are strong in your memory?

There were many during the shoot. You work so hard on preps to create a perfect moment, you have something on your mind and then things just come together. You feel like the universe is on your side and things are aligned. It feels like magic. There were many such moments — the cast  gets to the core of a scene and elevates it to another level or you catch that beautiful mountain peak with clouds settling during sunset, which you weren’t intending but it adds to the scene. We shot a lot of the film during the magic hour which is only a 15 to 20 minutes window. We have this nine-minute sequence where we were able to create a real-time light shift. It goes from pre-dawn to day. Moments like this were exciting. And in the post production, when the VFX, the sound design and colours come together, it was very satisfying moment.