Striking a chord

MALAYSIAN film director Karthik Shamalan is a happy man. His third feature film, the Tamil-language Sughamaai Subbulakshmi (With Love, Subbulakshmi), picked up awards for best director and best actress at the 9th Norway Tamil Film Festival in Oslo last month.
The win was especially sweet considering Sughamaai Subbulakshmi beat other Tamil films from all over the world, including India.
Karthik tells theSun: “The jury loved the strong emotions in my film. The awards have given me confidence to carry on with what I am doing.”
Sughamaai Subbulakshmi, which opens in cinemas today, centres on a man who is searching for the real meaning to his life and career, as well as for a soul mate.
The theme might be common but Karthik, 32, has given it a twist by presenting the male protagonist’s life story from the point of view of the woman he loves.
The 140-minute film also stars singer/actor Saresh D7 in the lead role, award winner Punitha Shanmugam, Bhagya Arivuckarasu, Kuben Mahadevan (Jagat), and rapper Karnan G. Crak.
“I am exploring emotions and human relationships in Sughamaai Subbulakshmi,” says Karthik. “What stops you from saying yes or no to a person? How do you behave in front of someone you like, and how do you behave in front of someone you hate?
“My films have always been about love and hate.”
Karthik says he has always wanted to be a storyteller since he was a child. He started joining storytelling competitions in school and sending in short stories to a Tamil newspaper.
When he was 13, he had the chance to meet the late K. Balachander, a well-known film director from India, who was doing a shoot in his hometown of Taiping.

“He told me that if I wanted to direct films, then I must only direct good films,” he recalls.
However, Karthik did not immediately pursue filmmaking. Instead, he opted for a more stable career, taking up accounting, and later becoming an accounting lecturer.
“I have no regrets,” he says. “I love accounting and I love teaching.”
But he did not let his passion for filmmaking die. He started making short films, some of which won awards.
In 2013, he made his first feature film, Melle Tiranthathu Kathavu, about a girl who witnesses a rape, but instead of helping the victim, she runs away and lives in constant fear that the rapist will come after her.
This film was followed by The Farm: En Vettu Thottahthil in 2017, which deals with the kidnapping and torture of an orphaned deaf and mute girl by a twisted serial killer wearing a wolf mask.
Karthik explains the first two films deal with the subject of fear – the first on psychological fear, and the second on physical fear – and adds that he plans to shoot a third film, focusing on emotional fear.
Karthik says he sees no difference between directing and his former teaching career.
He says: “I am teaching my assistant directors and actors about films. I am also learning something from them. The teaching and learning has not stopped.”
However, Karthik admits being a director has not been easy, especially when making Tamil-language films, as our local films have to compete against Tamil films from India, which often star popular actors who can pull in the crowd.
Still, Karthik says we cannot allow ourselves to be defeated by competition, adding that Malaysian Tamil-made films need to impress local audiences.
“We need to build up confidence among local audiences to watch local Tamil films ... to impress them with every aspect ... from the poster to the content.”
In the meantime, Karthik has just wrapped up co-directing duties on comedy thriller Atham Thavir, about five friends who go on a road trip and encounter a mystery, something along the lines of Scooby Doo.
This film is expected to be released at the end of the year.