Lal Jose decodes most taxing scene from 'Classmates'

Lal Jose is perhaps one gutsy director in Malayalam film industry who takes up a risk to deliver something new to audience. A sharp director, he has repeatedly stressed the script is of prime importance. One such movie was his 2006 film 'Classmates'. It was with this movie that the whole concept of alumni meetings started trending in Kerala. Unlike a usual campus-love story, 'Classmates' portrayed a murder mystery told against a college background.

Complex visualisation

Even after 12 years of its release, the movie is much loved for its fresh theme, amazing performances and incredible making. As part of Onmanorama's exclusive 'decoding a scene' series, Lal Jose speaks about the most difficult scenes in the film.

“What was unique about the movie was that a particular scene in it was shot in different ways. It is one where a dinner gathering held during the reunion of the former students is shown. A very pivotal incident happens where this scene ends," the director said.

Lal Jose explained the challenges involved in its picturisation. "The biggest challenge was that it had to be shot plainly first and then the same sequence had to be taken again from the perspective of the lead characters. We see it in our way, then the scene is narrated by Prithviraj, then by Kavya Madhavan and then by Jagathy Sreekumar. The challenge was more regarding the timing and movement. This same scene is shown from multiple angles and perspectives in the movie," he recalled.

The director even had to pacify the artistes as they were upset over the multiple takes.

“When I was re-shooting the same scene, artistes started getting agitated and even started asking why I was taking the scene again and again. They even asked me for a clarification as there were an array of cast in this particular scene. All I told them was that it would only make sense in the movie after the final editing is done. The movie's script did not had much detailing on this scene, but I had to plot a detailed strategy to shoot this complicated sequence. It demanded a high-level of brain-storming and it remains the most challenging scene that I have shot till now," he said.