Auditor making feature film on phone

It is a 12-year-old dream come true for Seby Varghese, audit senior with an MNC, as he completes his film ‘Unfateful’.

After making corporate videos and short videos, and completing an internship with a film company, he is making his first full-fledged feature film ‘Unfateful’.

On a sabbatical since April 19, 2017, the 29-year-old Bengaluru-based filmmaker says he was inspired by a frame he caught accidentally on a holiday.

“A couple of my friends, my wife and I were at Gokarna. One evening, my wife was walking down the stairs and it was a phenomenal scene with the sea and the sunset coming together. This is what triggered the last shot of the film,” he says.

The film began with the last scene. “The idea came together in six months. I was travelling with my friends to a funeral in Chennai and that is when I realised a road trip among strangers would make for an interesting plot,” he details.

He tried a test shoot on a DSLR in December 2016 and realised the budget did not match the aesthetics. Around the time, the cinematographer spoke about how his father had bought a new iPhone. “We started thinking about shooting the film on an iPhone,” recalls Seby.

A test shoot came out good and Seby understood a guerrilla-style was feasible. “We have shot the movie on an iPhone 7 Plus,” he says.

The film went into three schedules over 23 days. “We have 18 to 19 hours of footage that needs to be edited,” says Seby.

As the team ran out of money, it got to know about Wishberry, a crowdfunding platform.

“We now have a campaign on for our post-production and hope to finish the film in four months,” he adds. The team wants to send its film to national and international film festivals.

Seby hopes the film will encourage more creative people to follow their passion. If you want to support the film, contribute through www.wishberry.in/ unfateful

What is ‘Unfateful’?
Unfateful is a road film. It is about four strangers who carpool a journey together to Gokarna. Their dark sides slowly begin to emerge.

Shot across states
‘Unfateful’ follows a script-free approach and covers about 15,000 km across three states — Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Creating an individual style
“Robert Rodriguez’s ‘El Mariachi’, Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Following’, Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’--- these legendary films were made independently on micro-budgets. Influenced by a wide variety of filmmakers, I am developing my own perspective and vision.” says Seby Varghese