Want to be a Filmmaker? Learn from these short films made by renowned Mollywood directors

Making a film or being part of a film is an innate passion that most people have and some of them take that passion to a level up by taking a degree or even master’s in film courses. The irony is that the majority of the filmmakers working in the industry are not Ph.D. holders in filmmaking or people who have opted for film courses. Ever wondered why is that happening? What are the real criteria to be a filmmaker?. It’s all about having an experience. Many renowned directors have opted for creating short films before getting into a full-length feature. Let’s take a look at the Malayalam film directors who have made short films before making it big in the film industry.

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Alphonse Puthren is the supreme example of how you can get to the top by starting small with making short films. By looking at the successful films that he made, we can understand that he has a unique talent as an editor and that’s the main quality a director should have. A director should be a good editor too. The editing style in his films is really unique and that’s one of the reasons why his films are engaging. His 2013 film ‘Neram’ and 2015 film ‘Premam’ were humongous hits during that time. Before starting his film career, Alphonse Puthren made two Tamil short films. One was ‘The Angel’ starring Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi and Bobby Simha. The short film ‘Eli ‘ had Nivin Pauly and Bobby Simha playing the lead roles and was produced by Vineeth Sreenivasan. The short film ‘Eli’ has all the kind of editing styles that he later applied in his film ‘Neram’

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Yes, you heard it right, the most acclaimed Malayalam film director Lijo Jose Pellissery has made a short film back in the day. The short film was named ‘The Game’ and the duration was only 4 minutes. With no dialogues and fast-paced shots, this short film is about a boy on a bicycle being chased by a group of other kids. This short film is entirely different from the filmmaking style of Lijo Jose Pellissery, but still, you can feel a sense of ambiguity that he clearly uses in his films.

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We all know that actor-director Basil Joseph is one of the most prominent directors working today in our film industry. But did you know that before making his entry into Malayalam film, he was actually a short filmmaker?. Yes you heard it right, Basil Joseph actually made two short films and both were viral during that time. One of the short films was named ‘Priyamvada Kaatharayano’ and another one was named ‘Oru Thundu Padam’. Both the films had a ‘Basil’ touch of adding humor and entertainment to the storyline. Actor Aju Varghese played a prominent role in the short film ‘Oru Thundu Padam’ and created a huge buzz on social media during that time.

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Gireesh A.D, the writer and director of the 2019 hit school comedy film ‘Thanneermathan Dinangal’, started his career by making short films. Actually, it was his short films that made him popular even before getting to make a full-length feature film. Girish A.D had made three short films ‘Yashpal’,’Vishuddha Ambrossey’ and ‘Mookuthi’. The 16-minute short film ‘Vishuddha Ambrossey’ resembles his feature film ‘Thanneermathan Dinangal’ as the story revolved around a school and the troubles of a school kid. Most of the actors in his short film ‘Mookkuthi’ could be seen in his film ‘Thanneermathan Dinangal’ too.

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Before entering into the Malayalam film industry, Jude Anthany Joseph made two short films which were named ‘Yellow Pen’ and ‘Nakshatrangalude Rajakumaran’. These two short films actually helped him in molding his career and also getting recognized as the short film ‘Nakshatrangalude Rajakumaran’, which was based on actor Mammootty’s autobiography, received many positive responses from the audience.

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