BECOMING a director isn’t just about making movies, web series, commercials, or music videos. The opportunity to direct a project is not a given just because you have successfully completed a project in another medium. Transforming a passion into a profession requires creativity and the ability to do so with confidence at the exact moment when it is needed. It requires a lot of hard work and struggles. That’s exactly how it was for Siddarth Thevadason.
“I was into writing and filming but I didn’t know what was the exact word to this profession.” Siddarth told theSun. The first-time director started off as a junior assistant in 2007. He was introduced to the world of production by his friend Siva, and asked to participate in a film directed by the talented Indian director Vishnu Vardhan. Siddarth said: “I was just asked to be there because they needed more manpower and I thought it was just a contract-based job.” He later realised this was the beginning of a new journey, and he tried to make the most of it.
Following his good friend’s advice to learn as much as possible in three weeks without expecting much in return, Siddarth did his best. Towards the end of the shoot, he took his opportunity to exchange phone numbers with the director. “I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Vishnu again and traveled with him for three days. He was kind enough to give me important tips on how to become a skillful director and I learned a lot from him.”
Since then, Siddarth became passionate about directing and grabbed every opportunity to excel and learn. His friend Siva continued to introduce him to places to widen his knowledge.
“I took every chance, I became a writing assistant, location coordinator, and even a camera assistant. I wanted to learn as much as I can.” He explained, “[The years] 2007 to 2009 were a major turning point for me, I was given opportunities to [work] on documentaries and advertisement shoots.”
Siddharth continued working hard to build up a good career for himself. In 2011, luck came knocking on his door when he was offered the position of assistant director for a local TV station. Along the way, he met Dev, a cinematographer who wanted to make a film with Siddarth. Several attempts were made; however, the idea was thwarted by tight schedules and difficulties finalising talents for the movie, and Siddarth’s dream of directing a movie had to be put on hold.
Two years later, he decided to resume filming again. “I started it myself, I did the research and wrote the script accordingly.” When asked about the process of casting, he said: “I give [priority] to people who need a chance.” In 2018, he had to postpone the filming again fas he was unable to decide on the main leads for the film. “I put a lot of effort into getting the best cast, but most of the time, I was just not satisfied.”
But one year later, he finally felt that he had found the right people. Of course, this wasn’t the end of their struggles. Just when they thought everything was finally getting back on the right track, the leading stars left due to busy schedules again, this went on for a while until the team finally picked up new leads for the film.
“When I finally thought everything was going well, I was shocked to hear that the producer was backing off from the film because of financial issues.” This was the moment when Siddarth was ready to give up on his dream to make his first film. Siddharth said: “I wanted to give up, I couldn’t do it anymore.” However, his team members managed to persuade him to carry on and assured him that everything was going to be okay as long as they continued working as a team. Filming eventually took place, and despite having technical issues, they wrapped up their shoot beautifully.
In July 2021, Siddarth received the good news he never expected. The team celebrated their first success when their film, a love story titled Vannam, bagged two awards at the Uruvatti International Film Festival in India. It also won an award at the Toronto Tamil Film Festival, which Siddarth admitted was unexpected, and considers it one of his greatest achievements. Since then, the film has earned around 16 awards.
“Of course, I didn’t expect all these wins but this could not have been possible without my team, [I am] forever grateful.” When asked what were his plans for the future, he said: “Looking at my short film’s success, I want to do a feature film next.”
Malaysian audiences can look forward to seeing Vannam for themselves this year. You can look out for the film’s trailer on SE Network’s social media channels (YouTube, Instagram and Facebook).
