Santosh Sivan, Priyadarshan to helm Netflix anthology based on MT Vasudevan Nair’s stories

After the upcoming anthology titled Ray, which is based on master auteur Satyajit Ray’s short stories, Netflix is gearing up for a similar project based on the legendary Malayalam writer MT Vasudevan Nair’s literary works. 

This was confirmed to OTTplay by cinematographer-director Santosh Sivan, who would be helming one among the eight segments in the anthology that will feature eight directors. “It’s all based on MT sir’s short stories. We are all yet to start the shoot. I can begin my portions only after I finish my work Barroz,” says the National Award-winner. 

Talking about his segment in the anthology, Santosh says, “Out of the eight stories, mine is the only one that is a bit abstract and poetic. The others are a bit verbose and are filled with dialogues. The short story is about a guy who returns to his roots. Visually, it has a lot of layers too.” Santosh’s segment has Siddique in the lead. 

On the importance of the anthology based on one of the country’s most prolific writers, Santosh says, “Only when you enjoy literature, you truly appreciate his works. It’s something big for us Malayalis because not many OTTs pay a lot of attention to Malayalam. As someone who is connected to OTTs, it’s hard to get people interested in the Malayalam film industry and literature. But when something like an anthology of MT's works is made on Netflix, it transcends language, depending on how it is shot and presented. That’s very important because currently, few original Indian OTT series have had a universal appeal. Nobody has touched our mythology yet, so that way there is a lot of potential in our regional content.”

Meanwhile, another source in the know tells us that that director Priyadarshan has also been approached to helm one of the vignettes. “Each segment will be about 40 minutes in length. MT sir has been keen on having directors who haven’t worked on his scripts before. Director Venu was initially one of the candidates but because he had helmed Daya, which was scripted by MT sir, the plan was dropped. More than new faces, Netflix is planning to rope in established directors for the other featurettes,” says the source.

Santosh though had won his first National Award for Best Cinematography for the 1991 movie Perumthachan, which was helmed by Ajayan and scripted by the prolific author. “I had also got the offer to direct Randamoozham right after I did Urumi in 2011. But I felt that I wasn’t competent enough to handle such a subject. Also, Bheema is the most interesting character for me in Mahabharata and I didn’t have the heart to take his poignant tale. Even when VA Shrikumar Menon was attached to direct, Mohanlal had asked me if I could shoot the movie. But that didn’t happen. It’s a very tough project to pull off,” he says. 

Santosh, meanwhile, is currently busy with another project with Mohanlal – Barroz: Guardian of D’Gama’s Treasure. The big budget children’s fantasy entertainer will mark the Malayalam superstar’s directorial debut. “We shot for a week and it’s coming out really well. However, due to the pandemic, we had to halt the shooting,” says the cinematographer about the film, which also has Prithviraj Sukumaran in a pivotal role. 

Another Netflix anthology that the acclaimed cinematographer is part of is Mani Ratnam’s Navarasa, which will release in August. “I had shot Arvind Swamy’s episode in Navarasa. AR Rahman had composed for it. None of us took remuneration for Navarasa because it is made for relief efforts of those affected in the film industry due to the pandemic,” explains Santosh.

While Barroz is a 3D movie, Santosh had also helmed Moha, a silent, virtual-reality film. “The VR portions were shot in the US. It’s a film that is mostly made for the festival circuit,” he explains. 

The pandemic has also long delayed his Malayalam sci-fi film titled Jack & Jill, which has Manju Warrier and Soubin Shahir. The movie also has a Tamil version titled Centimetre, with Yogi Babu stepping in to play Soubin’s character. The film was scheduled to hit theatres in 2020. 

Ask Santosh if he is considering an OTT release for it and he tells us, “The digital rights of the movie, after its theatrical release, is already sold to Amazon Prime Video. Right now, we aren’t considering a direct OTT release because there wouldn't be too much of a difference in the money unless it’s got a big star attached. Producer Antony Perumbavoor will be releasing the film and right now the plan is for a theatrical release after Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham.”

Santosh though has kept himself busy last year, also helming the Bollywood film Mumbaikar, which has Vikrant Massey and marks Tamil star Vijay Sethupathi’s Hindi debut. The movie is the Bollywood remake of the Tamil film Maanagaram, which was written and helmed by Kaithi and Master director Lokesh Kanagaraj. 

“We have completed the shoot. It’s a big film and so, for an OTT release, again it has to fetch a good price as it’s an expensive movie,” he says.

On getting Sethupathi onboard the Bollywood film, Santosh says, “We have known each other for long and it didn’t take too much convincing. I had shot Chekka Chivantha Vaanam with him and he knew why we had approached him. The character is of a Tamilian, so it suited him. Mumbaikar is about different people coming from different regions.”

The cinematographer, who is currently in Chennai, concludes, saying he hopes to get to shooting for Barroz as soon as the lockdown is over in Kerala. The movie also has locations in Goa.