Showbiz: Winding route to reel life
bibiramli@nst.com.my
BUDDING television director Prakash Murugiah has dared to take up the challenge of attempting a rare genre for local television. And it’s his first big-scale production, no less! From his freelancing job over the last five years, he believed he had equipped himself with the know-how for the task ahead. Crossings, a dark comedy about an average Joe, airs on ntv7 every Friday at 8.30pm. It stars Zakizamani Osman, Dira Abu Zahar and Hansen Lee. In it, the protagonist finds he can see the dead after surviving a freak accident.
Prakash, who says that directing a pure comedy is even tougher, owes a lot to his mentor, the award-winning director Kabir Bhatia.
“I fell in love with his work and style. I’ve worked with a number of directors, but none were as detailed as he was,” Prakash says. They first met three years ago on the set of Kabir’s movie, Sepi, where he was Kabir’s assistant director. Then he continued to work with Kabir for 21/2 years, on Manjalara, Setem and a few smaller productions. Prakash says Kabir is far-sighted in his projects and never fails to plan in detail before embarking on anything.
“He taught me to never go on set if you didn’t know much. And the bigger the director you are, the more planning you will need.” Every director should have his own style, so Prakash tries not to emulate Kabir too much. “Kabir also has a great cinematographer, Mohd Noor Kassim, and they’ve worked together for 15 years,” Prakash adds. “These are my gurus. I learnt a lot from seeing them work together, brainstorming and having healthy arguments about their work.” It is certainly not uncommon for a director to lose his temper while working. Prakash has learnt from Kabir to not lose one’s cool unless it is really necessary.
“You can be mad at your crew, but when it comes to your cast, you have to think twice because it will show on screen.” “Of course, Kabir had been angry with me sometimes but minutes later we would be having a drink, like nothing happened. We treated each other professionally and our relationship had evolved from director and assistant director to good friends.” In Crossings, Prakash took Kabir’s advice and had regular discussions with the cast on their thoughts for the series. “They know their characters better than I do, so I value their points of view. It is important to have that trust.” Prakash says he and Kabir are working on a project together. But as nothing has been set in stone yet, he is unable to say more.
Another favourite director of his is the legendary Mani Ratnam, who gave us Hindi movies such as Guru, Nayagan and Dil Se. The director from India is one of the best among his peers and has directed 20 movies (several of them box office hits).
Growing up, Prakash wanted to be a pilot although filmmaking was something he had flirted with in his mind. Unlike his siblings who excelled in their studies, Prakash admits that he was too playful in school. He had also wanted to be a movie star. “Sadly I realised that I can’t be in front of the camera, even a still camera. My smile is so stiff it won’t last for more than three seconds!”
During his school days, the Malacca-born’s love for filmmaking saw him making several amateur videos. Unable to complete his studies at Limkokwing University, he left for a life in sales and marketing. Then one day, his friend presented him with a book titled Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts. Shantaram is about the life of Roberts, an Australian robber who fled to India from an Australian prison. A movie adaptation was in the works but is currently on hold. The book left such an impact on Prakash that he resigned from his job two days after completing the book and travelled to Bombay to meet Roberts, who had set up several charitable organisations there. An acquaintance from Bombay invited Prakash to join the production of Tipu Kanan Tipu Kiri, a movie directed by Chennai-based Sharad Sharan.
“I was introduced to Kabir around that time,” Prakash explains. “That was the start of my filmmaking career.” Prakash, who now owns production house Kash Pictures Sdn Bhd, went on to become an assistant director, line producer, producer and director for corporate videos, commercials, television dramas, telemovies and local and international movies. His credits include TV dramas such as Kerana Karina, Frontpage, Kekasihku Seru, and telemovie Dendam Seorang Isteri.
Recently Prakash directed The Jean Perera Murder, a crime documentary for Crime And Investigation Channel (Astro Channel 732). His short film, Flashes, won the People’s Choice Awards last year at the annual BMW Shorties 2009.
With Crossings premiering last Friday, Prakash and his team can’t wait to start their next projects, which include two dramas, a movie and a reality series.
No comments:
Post a Comment