Malayalam filmmaker Jeo Baby shot to pan-India fame last year with the marital culinary clarion call The Great Indian Kitchen. He is back, this time as the ‘presenter’ of Freedom Fight an anthology of 5 stories on individual freedom on SonyLIV. Jeo Baby Speaks to Subhash K Jha
As the presenter of Freedom Fight what did you aim to achieve with this anthology and have you achieved it?
Actually, because of the pandemic we decided on an anthology. After The Great Indian Kitchen my producers and I were thinking of what to do next.When the pandemic happened we thought of this anthology of five stories. Because doing five films made the filmmaking process easier. Each film took about ten days to complete and was shot in different places with different actors and technicians and each director was approached with no certain kind of content in mind .The genre and story were chosen by the directors.We didn’t specify any preconditions. The priority was good thought provoking cinema. Each director came up with an idea which we then discussed . Coincidentally all the stories spoke about freedom. That’s why we chose the title Freedom Fight.
So it was all done impromptu?
I just planned five good films, nothing else.Everything else followed from there. I think we achieved that. Freedom happened to be a theme in all the stories by chance. Apart from Francies Louis who was my editor on The Great Indian Kitchen,I didn’t know any of the other directors personally.Of course now all the directors are my friends.
How tough was it to shoot during the pandemic?
It was a challenge to shoot these five films. But nothing that we couldn’t cope with. The most difficult to shot was Asanghadithar directed by Kunjila Mascillamani.This one had to be directed in one of the busiest commercial areas of Kerala. Otherwise all the other stories were shot smoothly , all Covid guidelines in place.
Personal freedom is a running theme in the anthology.It was also the underlining thrust in your previous masterpiece The Great Indian Kitchen.Do you as a filmmaker seek that freedom in your own work?
As a filmmaker I now have full freedom to shoot the way I want ; I am a producer and all my co-producer-friends have all the freedom to shoot as we like. But when it comes to issues related to the release of films, we still have no control The content is king on the OTT platform. But the movie theatres are still star-driven. Not all filmmakers have the freedom to make what they want. But that is changing gradually. If all goes well, movie theatres too will favour content over stars.
Bodily functions and their abuse are crucial to two of the stories.Was it essential to go into such graphic details about bodily functions and wastes? Shouldn’t there be a line dividing realism and cinematic aesthetics?
The censoring process doesn’t apply to the OTT. But there are self-imposed restrictions. We have to keep in mind that there is a family audience at home.I agree with you. There should be some restrictions.
Coming to your story Old Age Home it is by far the best film in the anthology.How was the idea born and what was it like shooting in such a paradisical greenery with such a talented cast?
Old Age is based on my own experiences. It is the story of my father and mother. As shown in the story my mother is doing a lot of jackfruit farming and spreading awareness on the fruit , so yeah the characters played by Jijo George and Nalli are based on my parents and the third character played by Rohini is based on my mother-in-law. In 2016 when I was shooting The Little God my father who was not well, and my mother-in-law became friends. We shot the film in seven days.I’d like to work with all these actors again.
Apparently you are also in the cast in Freedom Fight.I didn’t recognize you.Which role do you play ? Do you enjoy acting?
I enjoy acting. I play the character Annai in Francies Louis’s film Ration. He was my editor in The Great Indian Kitchen and he is my best friend.So the acting job was easy and interesting.
