Niddhish Puuzhakkal, a creative dynamo hailing from Mumbai, has carved a path in the world of filmmaking and his mastery stems from his hands-on encounters with the art of storytelling, his profound understanding of human psychology and child-like curiosity.
Often considered a boundary-pushing contemporary artist, Niddhish is working on two films, one is a Malayalam drama titled Kabirinte Canvas. He’s also making his Hindi film debut but the project is yet to be titled. In an exclusive chat, we speak to the director about his extensive body of work, upcoming projects and lots more…
Can you tell us how your interest in art helped you become a better filmmaker?
Art has helped me bring a fresh and new perspective to my films. It has helped me think differently. When it comes to shoot locations and frames, I get very creative in understanding and spotting the aesthetics. Learning and immersing myself in art has enabled me to portray my creativity in my films in a very novel and unique way.
Tell us about your journey as a filmmaker.
When I got my first project as a director, I didn't even know what direction was, but I tried my best to do it and I fell in love with it. I knew that filmmaking was something I really enjoyed and never wanted to stop doing. It's been more than two decades now and I still haven't gotten bored of it. There is just so much to learn and explore in filmmaking. It's like an ocean. It just never ends.
What kind of brainstorming do you undertake when you start working on a project?
I am a bit of a method actor. Like in method acting the actor puts himself into the character’s skin, and understands his responsibilities and circumstances, I do the same thing as a director. I was trying to work on this project called Laughing Birba but I wasn’t able to finish it because of the writer’s block that I was facing during that time. I realized that I am not a funny person and hence I am not able to produce something interesting. That’s when I started doing stand-up comedy. I did it for four months and that really helped me understand what the script needs.