‘Quirk is our USP’: 'Family Drama' director Akarsh H P

A comedy film with dark tones of humour about a dysfunctional family where the mother advises her kids on how to kill a person is not your regular Kannada film. Such is the plot of ‘Family Drama’ by a bunch of young cineastes, set for release next week. Directed by Akarsh H P, the film is about a middle-class family with no moral compass. “They’re very selfish and when in need of money, they can do anything — lying, cheating and even killing someone,” says the 27-year-old director.

Akarsh started making short films in 2018, after completing his engineering degree. He also volunteered at the feature and short film festivals in Bengaluru (BIFFes and BISFF). He says his exposure to world cinema began at film festivals. His first writing gig was for the Pramod Shetty starrer ‘Laughing Buddha’ (directed by Bharath Raj of ‘Hero’ fame). ‘Hunters in Bangalore’, ‘Unloved’ and ‘Project Sharapanjara’ are some of the short films he has directed. 

Outside the world of cinema, Akarsh is also a published author. His latest book,‘God’s Lonely Men’ (2021) is a collection of short stories that explore the modern man’s loneliness — from a tea seller to the prime minister of a country. 

In a conversation with Showtime, Akarsh talks about making ‘Family Drama’, working with the cast and about quirkiness being the film’s unique selling point. 

Excerpts:

Why did you choose such a theme and genre?

I’m a huge fan of dark comedy. A comedy taking place in normal situations excites me. I’ve loved watching films by the Coen Brothers, especially ‘Burn After Reading’. I wanted to explore such comedies. But such humour isn’t common in our cinema. So, the film starts normally, creating a comfortable atmosphere for the audience. From there, we take them to the genre we want — dark comedy. It was fun exploring morally corrupt characters. 

What were you looking for when choosing actors for this genre?

In films with dark humour, having actors who understand the humour becomes very important. If they don’t bind to the humour, it simply won’t work. 

It was fantastic to work with Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy (director of ‘Aachar & Co.’), Poornachandra Mysore (Poorna) and Rekha Kudligi. All three of them are great actors, they understood the humour. 

Rekha ma’am completely trusts you as a director. There is no hesitation in her performance. Sindhu understands the scenes instantly. There is no additional effort required in explaining the scene or getting her into the mood for a scene. She reads the scene and asks if this is the vibe I’m looking for and in most cases, she’s spot on. 

Poorna, with so many years of experience improvised on the character that surprised me. His improvisation added a fresh perspective. It gave me the option to choose between the improvised and the original. 

Any exciting moments and challenges?

Delivering the film on time was a big challenge. We had about 180 pages of script, 42 locations and only 31 days of shooting time. 

We were shooting an important sequence at a single location for three days, it was at a resort in the outskirts of the city and we were running out of time. On one of the days, there was a forest fire nearby. But we couldn’t stop shooting. One part of the team was trying to fight the fire — it was approaching towards us — and the technical crew continued to shoot. The fire brigade came to the rescue but it was scary at that point of time. 

What are you trying to convey through the film?

There’s no message as such but in a few scenes, the characters could put some thoughts into the audience’s minds. However that itself is not the idea of the film. If you have watched Priyadarshan’s films like ‘Hera Pheri’, it is mostly in that space but not as slapstick. Although there is some kind of a commentary in the narrative, entertainment was the only only motive. 

What is the USP of the film?

The quirkiness present throughout the film is our USP. This kind of humour is not seen much in films here. For example, a mother (Rekha Kudligi) advising her kids on how to kill a person. It’s a character that I would love to see on screen. I experimented a lot on the mother’s character and Sindhu’s character. The mother here is not restricted to looking after her family. She is as selfish as her kids. Writing these characters was fun. Apart from that, the music is completely retro, we’ve experimented a lot on the music.