Two national awards as a student filmmaker, and now one for his maiden feature film. Christo Tomy's filmmaking journey has indeed been the stuff of dreams. However, even as Ullozhukku bagged multiple accolades at the 71st National Film Awards, Christo hasn't been able to comprehend the magnitude of his achievement fully. Or maybe, the self-effacing filmmaker doesn't want to. While he was expecting a win for Urvashi, Ullozhukku winning the Best Malayalam Film award came as the icing on the cake. "Given all the responses so far and the win at the State level, we were certainly rooting for Urvashi chechi, but nothing specifically for the film, because with awards, you never know."
We might not know a lot, but Christo, having previously served on the National Awards jury, definitely knows a thing or two about the process behind it. The director, who was part of the jury for the non-fiction category at the 65th National Film Awards, says, "Though I was in the jury, the process and criteria involved in judging fiction and non-fiction films are entirely different. The non-fiction category has two panels—regional and central. The regional panel will watch the South Indian films and then recommend them to the central jury. I'm not entirely sure about the other selection criteria. In the non-feature category, we have only one set of jury members, and the number of films for contention is also comparatively much lesser."
As is the norm every year, some of the jury's choices this year have also not gone well among many, with serious accusations of blatant bias, both regionally and politically, being thrown around. Christo, though, prefers to observe such conversations from a distance. "Every award is subjective, and it reflects the jury's tastes. Sure, there could be many other deserving films, but there will always be differing opinions. Aattam won the Best Film award last year, which was a great choice. Though it's not a mainstream film per se, it had all the qualities to be the 'Best Film'."
Christo fondly recalls his first two National Award wins, which he won while being a student at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI). His short films Kanyaka (2013) and Kamuki (2015), made as part of his institute projects, secured the awards for Best Debut Film and Best Direction, respectively, in the non-feature section. "The first one was extremely special for obvious reasons. There were a lot of celebrations, with my parents flying all the way to Delhi to cheer for me. Everything was new for me—getting to meet and interact with many great actors and filmmakers. But more than anything, the first win instilled a belief that I could win a National award. The second one happened as I was just coming out of the institute and was going through a difficult phase, both personally and professionally. It was a much-needed booster at that time," remembers Christo.
Despite the two National awards and Ullozhukku's script winning the first prize among over 35,000 submissions at Cinestaan India's Storytellers Contest, adjudged by the likes of Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani, Christo had to toil for over eight years to get the film dragged to the big screen. So it's only natural that he considers this National award a befitting culmination to all the years of effort. Dedicating the award to his team and his family who waded through all the rough waters with him—quite literally—he adds, "We shot the film almost entirely at my ancestral house in Kuttanad. I'm indebted to my grandmother, uncle, and aunt, who lived in a rented house for almost a year and a half. Even when the film was in limbo and unsure of completion, they kept believing in me. Imagine how many people would allow their house to be flooded and wrecked like that. So, this award is as much theirs as it's mine."
Unlike most film institute graduates who find it hard to grapple with the commercial demands of the industry, Christo is cognizant of the practical realities and also the possibilities it offers. Following an unexpected shelving of his earlier planned Hindi web series, the director is now working on a feature film each in Hindi and Malayalam. Christo, who earlier expressed his desire to attempt something on the lines of Kantara and Pushpa, says, "The Malayalam film which I'm co-writing is a completely commercial film with action and stuff. The Hindi one is also commercial, but a crime thriller essentially." After a glorious, award-winning start to his feature journey, it seems like Christo is now eager to continue the dream run, on his own terms.