City film maker makes horror short films

  • | Monday | 23rd July, 2018

In its last two minutes, the seven-minute short film Surreal Estate, jolts you. What begins as a story of a middle-aged man and his daughter looking for a new flat turns into a horror thriller. “I plan to make five short films in the horror and comedy genre to build my portfolio and showcase my work when I start looking for opportunities in feature films,” he adds. Short films need not be restricted to memes of current issues, in order to make an impact, we must make more genuine short films.”Short and scenicManidhargal, his first short film is an action thriller, featuring martial arts teacher Sisu Balaa (who has done cameos in actor Surya’s 7am Arivu). The film, which is now live on his YouTube Channel Minutes Movies, has opened to positive feedback.

In its last two minutes, the seven-minute short film Surreal Estate, jolts you. What begins as a story of a middle-aged man and his daughter looking for a new flat turns into a horror thriller. “Why should ghost stories be always about a woman dressed in a white saree,”asks Sujith DH, director of Surreal Estate. The film, which is now live on his YouTube Channel Minutes Movies, has opened to positive feedback. “I plan to make five short films in the horror and comedy genre to build my portfolio and showcase my work when I start looking for opportunities in feature films,” he adds. He says comedy and horror are challenging genres. “My idea of horror is to send a chill down your spine. I was very particular about not depending just on make-up to make the ghosts scary. I wanted to show ghosts as real people who talk, joke and live amidst us.” The second film in the series called the Mansion House is a conversation between two friends — only one of them is alive and the other one dead! Sujith says he personally prefers to watch comedies but wanted to explore horror as a genre. Besides a masters degree in visual communication, he is also trained in visual effects from Frameworks Institute. “The next in the series is a dark comedy thriller called Naanthaan Alien. It is made like a sci-fi film and I used all my knowledge in visual effects, in order to make it,” It was his grandma’s telling of ghost stories that inspired him to write one, he says. “While growing up in Ooty, in the Nilgiris, I would listen in rapt attention as my grandmother told us stories of dead women in the village coming alive in the night. Some of the stories had a funny twist too!” Sujith says that his films were all shot in the daytime as night time shooting is an expensive affair and he had a really tight budget to work with. “I shot Mansion House at the mansion I live now and Surreal Estate at my sister Priyanka Dharmakumar’s flat, both in Coimbatore.” The social media support his films have garnered have been a huge boost, says Sujith who is planning a launch in Chennai soon. “We don’t have to look for a producer to make and market our films. Short films need not be restricted to memes of current issues, in order to make an impact, we must make more genuine short films.” Short and scenic Manidhargal, his first short film is an action thriller, featuring martial arts teacher Sisu Balaa (who has done cameos in actor Surya’s 7am Arivu). It highlights Chinese martial arts. It is about a police officer’s son getting kidnapped Sujith also made a documentary of a road trip during the monsoons with his biker friend Sumanth Nagaraja. Sujith filmed as they chased the monsoons across 1800 kms across Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in seven days. They drove through Idukki, Wayanad, Kumily, Athirapalli and Valparai.

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