2018 director Jude Anthany Joseph: I think I achieved my aim of being one of the top directors in India 5 years too late

Director Jude Anthany Joseph talks about 2018’s success, the lessons learnt and his next project

Jude Anthany Joseph

Malayalam filmmaker Jude Anthany Joseph has approached each of his movies as a mountain to scale. While Ohm Shaanti Oshaana was his debut movie, Oru Muthassi Gadha was a film that he had done deliberately with newcomers to prove that he could make a movie work through its content, without any stars. Sara’s was his first attempt at a direct-to-OTT release. But 2018 was his Mount Everest, his biggest challenge yet and now, 35 days post its theatrical release, it has also become the highest grossing Malayalam movie ever with a worldwide box office collection of over Rs 175 crore.

In an exclusive interview with OTTplay after the movie’s OTT release on Sony LIV, Jude talks about the feedback he has received for the film, lessons learnt and what to look forward to.

2018 is now the biggest success in Malayalam cinema’s history. That said, how has the commercial and critical acclaim affected you as a person, more than a filmmaker?

I had joined Infosys in 2006 and had worked there till 2009. In 2008, I did a music video and had also joined as an assistant director in Crazy Gopalan. During then, there was this web portal for Infosys called Sparsh that had a section called Spotlight, which featured employees who had excelled in arts, sports and other skills. I greatly wished to be featured in that section and so sent an email to the HR, highlighting that I have made a music video and have enough calibre. They then interviewed me and one thing they asked me was what do I wish for 10 years from then. I said I wanted to be among the top 10 directors in India. So, personally I think it took me five more years to get there. If I had put in more effort a few years ago, maybe I could have gotten there earlier (laughs).

Also read: 2018 review: The Kerala story of hope, humanity and resilience, expertly crafted by Jude Anthany Joseph

Since your directorial debut in 2014, you have done only four movies. But does the success of 2018 now make it easier for you to get your movies greenlit sooner?

It’s not that my films weren’t greenlit. I am someone who prefers to take a long break after each film. I also act. I am not greedy about doing a lot of movies or earning money. Currently, I have two scripts that were planned during the pandemic lockdown. I haven’t decided when I want to do them or the scale in which I want to make them.

Did you expect the film to break all box-office records like 2018 has done?

Of course not. All those aspects do not excite me even now. It happened because Malayalis came to watch theatres, dominated by their emotions. It doesn’t have to happen for all movies. When you are making a movie, all you wish for is for the audience to like it and appreciate it. Rs 175 crore is not even something that I had dreamt about. I don’t even know if my next film will collect Rs 5 crore. It might be a movie that could be made on a small budget or big; but box office collections are entirely the producers’ area.

Also read: King of Kotha to Empuraan: Upcoming Malayalam movies expected to break 2018's box office record

Your previous movies might not have come with the baggage of expectations that your next film will definitely have, as it follows a blockbuster.

I do not see a problem in that. If our movie is good, it will run. People won’t see who’s the filmmaker. Of course, when they come to watch my next movie, there will be that thought that it is made by 2018’s director but I believe those notions would disappear five minutes into the movie and people will be immersed in the film.

One reason that 2018 connected with a lot of people was the attention to the small details in such a massive film, be it about animals in the backdrop or the routine conversations between its characters. How do you go about creating those during the scripting itself?

A basic approach that I have adopted was, for instance, how in Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg had tried to create tension even before unveiling the T-Rex. He did that by showing a glass of water and with each step of the dinosaur, you could see the water trembling. If he had shown the T-Rex first, the impact would not have been as great. So, these are techniques that other filmmakers have used, and I just emulated those.

Also read: Christopher Nolan is our guru: 2018 movie's Jude Anthany Joseph on how the director inspired his film

You have toured across the country as well as the UAE to promote the movie, which was appreciated by audiences everywhere. How was the feedback outside Kerala?

In Hyderabad, there was a show just for the media. I could literally see the excitement in their eyes. A lot of people wanted to say things to me but they couldn’t because I didn’t understand Telugu and not all of them spoke English. Within themselves, they were lauding the film; I could catch a few words of what they were saying.

In Chennai too, people were hugging me after the show. It was the same in Mumbai; a filmmaker they had no idea about had just presented a film, which they liked a lot. I could feel that from their reactions. A few days ago, I was in the UAE, and people were just thronging the malls to see us. Till now, people would ask me if I was the person who had acted in a particular film, but now recognise me as a filmmaker because of my video interviews. I can feel that love everywhere I go now.

Are there lessons that you have gained after working from a movie like 2018?

The truth is that I haven’t put in as much effort in my other movies as I did for 2018. I shot Oru Muthassi Gadha after the first draft and Sara’s after the third draft and with just a month of pre-production. For Ohm Shaanti Oshaana, I got about seven months to prepare for the movie’s shoot. But for 2018, I got about 2-3 years due to the pandemic lockdown and so I kept refining the script. The lesson is that if you put in more effort, the rewards will be four times more.

Is your next project with Nivin Pauly, Vijay Sethupathi and Rashmika Mandanna?

It’s not confirmed yet. Apart from Nivin, I don’t think the other two actors have a clue about this. It’s my wish to cast them in the film. I haven’t approached them yet, but I want to.

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