Deep Focus

Gautham Vasudev Menon, the director of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa takes us through his process of writing the film. Sharing some exclusive insights into various scenes and why he choose to write/film it in that way. He additionally explains his specific choices in the areas of colour, sound design, background score, cinematography and editing.

Milind Rau, the director of Aval, Gruham, The House Next Door talks about the craft involved in directing a horror film. How he alternated between letting the various departments do their own thing and micro-managing it all. He explains what he did in the areas of colour, sound design, background score, cinematography and editing -- and how these (and other departments) came together in the pre-interval exorcism sequence. (He talks about this scene in detail.) He tells how he tried to second-guess the viewer in terms of the scares. And about the classic horror films (The Exorcist, The Omen, Ringu) he used as a reference point, and also paid homage to.

Hema Rukmani, the producer of Mersal, explains what a producer does. How the company (Thenandal Studios Limited) makes decisions about which films to produce. How Mersal, the Vijay blockbuster directed by Atlee (and with music by AR Rahman), came about. She speaks about her involvement in the various stages of making the film, and about the controversies that came about. About the pluses and minuses of making a mega-movie like Mersal versus making several smaller films for the same amount of money. About what it takes to keep a studio running for over four decades. About the studio's shift from small films to big productions like Kaatru Veliyidai, Mersal and the upcoming Sanghamitra. Finally, she talks about the lessons learned from Mersal.

Santhosh Narayanan talks about his composing style, how he makes a basic tune that is then developed and handed out to the players. He plays a BGM piece from Pariyerum Perumal - first on the piano, and then the final output (as played by the whole orchestra). He discusses contributors like Pradeep and Sean Roldan. Finally, he listens to a situation given by Baradwaj Rangan ("imagine you are a robot and you are falling for a human girl") and live-composes a BGM score.