FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

In 2020, a year defined by loss, Lijo Jose Pellissery reinvented himself spiritually and as a filmmaker. India might have its Oscar hopes pinned on his film, Jallikattu, but its maker prefers to look beyond

- Suhani Singh

Malayalam filmmaker Lijo Jose Pellissery is one of Indian cinema’s most ingenious and prolific voices. After delivering two acclaimed dramas— Angamaly Diaries (2017) and Ee.Ma.Yau (2018)—his last film, Jallikattu (2019), was recently chosen as India’s official entry in the best international film category at the Oscars. A media-shy Pellissery took some time out to talk with RD about how a challenging 2020 has shaped him, and why he wants his films to leave audiences with multiple points of view.

You average one film a year. What does it take to be so prolific?

Thank God I am able to do one every year. I get restless when I don’t work or create. There is nothing planned. After I have finished a film, I move on to what I next find exciting and compelling. The world is never short of stories. There is a story in every town, village, family and person. There are also some beautiful people who toil behind all my movies to make them happen year after year.

You are one of the few directors whose work thrives on the words of others. How do you collaborate with writers?

Simply told, filmmaking is re-imagining a story for screen, and I am always happy to do that. I believe that ideas, viewpoints and the structure of a film should evolve till the last moment, and that this must happen with the people who work behind it. Ee.Ma.Yau was written by P. F. Mathews, Jallikattu by author S. Hareesh and my upcoming