Sarjun KM: I enjoy directing more than writing

Filmmakers can be broadly bifurcated into two types: those who make films to entertain, and those who prioritise telling a story. The former kind ensure that their creative choices are aimed at pleasing the audience, while the latter care more about self-expression. In Tamil cinema, there’s plenty of the first kind. Sarjun KM, interestingly, identifies himself with the second. “I need more time to be able to make films that appeal to everyone. One can tell a story with the help of the knowledge and craft they have acquired, but to please everyone with the same story is a hard task."

Are his writing and directing choices, to a tiny degree at least, influenced by the potential reception they might encounter? Sarjun’s fascinating answer hints at a solution to a crisis plaguing the Tamil film industry: the absence of screenwriters. “When I direct my own script, the question—‘will the audience like it?’—keeps pestering me. Writing is a tedious process, and the pressure is real. But when I direct someone else’s script, I enjoy it more because it relieves me from the pressure of acceptance,” he shares, acknowledging that it's vital to encourage the mushrooming of screenwriters in the industry. 

Penned by Sankar Dass, who has earlier co-written the man vs mouse comedy, Monster, and the romantic drama, Oru Naal Koothu, the early development of Blood Money corresponded to the blueprint of the Hollywood studio system, according to Sarjun. ZEE5 hired Sankar to write the script and Sarjun entered the project only after the script was locked. Sarjun, of course, brought in his perspective and suggested minor tweaks to the script. “The most encouraging part about streaming platforms is that they draw a clear line between the writer and the director. While directing, your focus is entirely on the craft, not on the result. This is why I prefer Steven Spielberg (who directs others’ scripts) over Tarantino (popular for writing his own films).”  

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Sarjun is making a film based on a script by another writer. Earlier this year, he directed the ‘Thunintha Pin’ segment in Navarasa, written by his guru, Mani Ratnam. The liberty he finds in being solely a director, Sarjun says, encourages him to make choices he wouldn’t otherwise. “To begin with, I wouldn’t even think of writing a script like Blood Money. I might find the topic fascinating while browsing through a newspaper, but the idea to develop it into a feature film would have never occurred to me. My interest has always been in humans and relationships. I’m all for character-driven stories, as opposed to the plot-driven narratives mainstream cinema seems to embrace.” he says. 

Blood Money, too, in a way, is a humanistic story. It follows the efforts of a journalist from Tamil Nadu (played by Priya Bhavani Shankar) to save two innocent Tamils from death penalty in Kuwait over the course of a day. Incidentally, his debut feature, Echcharikkai, was also a story that occurred over a day. The compact setting and limited locations of Blood Money offered Sarjun plenty of space to play with the visuals. “The story unfolds in three major locations—a newsroom, a prison in Kuwait, and rural Tamil Nadu. We wanted to establish a perceptible tonal difference between them. For the newsroom set-up, we went with blue predominantly, while maintaining a warm tone for the sequences set in Kuwait. For the scenes transpiring down South, we went with shades of green,” he says, adding that the limited setting is far from a constriction. “I didn’t have to worry about chronology and continuity. Since the actors would be wearing the same costumes and make-up, it allowed me to shoot with flexibility.”

Sarjun’s films—be it the viral short film, Lakshmi, the Nayanthara-starrer Airaa, or his last release, Thunintha Pin—have always met with mixed critical reception. How does he deal with criticism and push forward? “Let me be honest, criticism hurts. When your attachment to your work is so profound, it takes time to look at it objectively and ascertain what worked and what didn't. I can discern how I have evolved over years… how my response to criticism has matured. I react to criticism differently now than, say, when Lakshmi got released. I no longer go into a shell... I suppose we all change with age,” Sarjun concludes.