Tharun Moorthy: We came across cases 100 times more heart-rending than the ones in Operation Java

It’s now a given that debutant Malayalam filmmakers are capable of surprising the audience with their craft in their very first film - Mathukutty Xavier did it with Helen and Madhu C Narayanan with Kumbalangi Nights. But the deft skill with which Tharun Moorthy has scripted and directed the cybercrime thriller Operation Java would rival even that of an expert filmmaker. It’s no wonder then that he has been flooded with congratulatory messages from the industry’s top actors and leading directors. 

The movie, which is streaming on ZEE5, has been fashioned as an anthology in the sense that it deals with three separate cases that require the Kochi cyber cell to investigate, with the characters of two engineers Antony George (Balu Varghese) and Vinaya Dasan (Lukman Avaran) being the common threads that tie these up together. 

We caught up with Tharun recently to discuss the research that had gone into the film, the process of roping in multiple established actors for cameos and its sequel plans. Excerpts: 

From the research that has gone into making Operation Java to how the final product has turned out, you would never assume that the movie was helmed by a debutant. What do you attribute that to?

For all three cases that we discuss in the movie, we consulted cyber cell officers as part of our extensive research. For the last case especially, we needed more help from civil police officers for field investigation details. We had a police officer named Jacob Mani to guide us during the scripting and dubbing sessions. The first case (about Premam piracy) had happened in real life, several investigations were carried out related to the second case (job scam) and the final one (multiple murders by a youngster impersonating a food-delivery personnel) was something that we heard had happened in New Delhi. So, we had to localise that and didn’t know how to go about it.

I called up Mani sir and asked him how the police would have investigated such a case in Kerala; we went entirely with what they told us. The additions were minor gimmicks that ensured that the movie would keep the audience hooked till the end. We tweaked it further on the editing table and that made the movie gripping. So, I believe it was the teamwork that has made Operation Java a crisp entertainer.

How much did last year’s lockdown help in fine-tuning the movie?

Actually, the lockdown was a huge blessing for the movie. It was announced 10 days after we completed shooting and on the very day we were to begin editing. So, all of us were stuck at different places and had to scamper for police passes to bring all the hard-disks and computers together. Editor Nishadh Yusuf and I quarantined ourselves in a house for the post-production. The silver lining was that there wasn’t any pressure on us because we didn’t have to rush the movie to the theatres. So, we kept editing it till we thought it was perfect.

That is evident in terms of how tightly packed the movie is. But it is also infused with a lot of human-interest stories and emotions like Dasan’s past and also Ramanathan and Janaki’s plight that are not usually there in police procedurals.

The audience has to feel the same emotions that the character is going through to connect with them. We can have clever investigative tropes and twists and turns, but after a point people will grow tired of these. So, I wanted them to wholly accept characters like Antony, Dasan, Ramanathan and Janaki because only if that happens, their story arcs would have left a mark. Tomorrow when somebody watches a morphed video, they would realise why it’s wrong only if they understood Ramanathan and Janaki’s emotions. While researching for the film, we heard about so many cases from the cyber cell officers that are 100 times more heart-rending than the ones we have shown in Operation Java.

Similarly, Antony’s break-up and Dasan’s past had to connect with the audience and make them feel close to these characters. I believe that was successful and that’s why people have been asking for a sequel to know what happens to them next. Both Antony and Dasan are representatives of so many BTech graduates and it was important for their stories to be told. A lot of people from the industry who called me said that emotions are not given precedence in investigative thrillers and lauded us for placing these emotions rightly in the screenplay.

The film had a slew of brilliant cameos from Thaneermathan Dinangal’s Mathew Thomas and Shine Tom Chacko to the late P Balachandran. What was their initial reaction when you had approached them with these roles?

I had known Balettan for years, and when I decided to do this movie, I went to his house and told him about the role. His first reaction was, “Should I do it? Will the audience accept it if an old man like me is part of a film that largely has a young cast?” I told him I needed somebody with his body language and it was just a day’s shoot. He came to the sets and once he was in the mood, he even improvised. He was someone who feeds off on the energy of the team. That’s why this was a standout scene.

During the lockdown last year, when I had called him for dubbing, he told me that he was almost 70 years old and he didn’t want to take a risk. But a week later, he called back and said he wanted to immediately dub for his part. He enjoyed the process and before leaving he said it was one of his most memorable characters. After a few days, he became unwell and left us forever. But what I mean is that some cameos are so powerful, they stay on in our minds.

For the others, be it Vinayakan chettan or Mathew, they understood that if they played those characters, it would be better for the entire story. Vinayakan chettan wanted this story to be told and as far as I was concerned, if any other actor would have played that role, the impact wouldn’t have been this huge. It’s the same with Mathew and Shine chettan, whose character pretty much walks away with all the credit in the end.

When is the sequel coming out because everyone has already assumed that a sequel is in the works?

The sequel is on, but we believe there will be restrictions even after the lockdown is over. When Operation Java released, even though the movie ran for 75 days in theatres, the cinema halls operated only at 50% capacity. So, I want to shoot and also release the sequel when everything is back to normal and people are coming to theatres like in the past. I already have a one-liner in mind that I have to develop.

Actors including Prithviraj, Suresh Gopi and Kunchacko Boban have praised the movie after its OTT release. Can we expect cameos from bigger stars in the sequel?

(Laughs) Since the film’s release, a lot of big actors and legendary directors have been sharing their feedback. And after it was released on OTT, directors, who had inspired all of us, have also been calling to tell me that the movie inspired them. That’s a huge compliment for me. Everyone who has worked in the film including Binu Pappu, Alexander Prashanth, Irshad, Lukman and Balu Varghese has been flooded with calls, appreciating their performances. So, we are all happy how the film has turned out.