Mumbai-based Malayali filmmaker Sachin S Pillai is garnering attention thanks to his music videos with popular artistes like Sohrab Nicholson, Sanaya and Monica Dogra, which have gone viral. “Monica, Sanaya and Sohrab are friends before anything else and we always had an idea to collaborate. I am really grateful for the response the videos have got and I have become more confident of my cinematic decisions. But my favourite is the experimental film Alpha, I developed at the KYTA Residency with nine other artists, against the backdrop of the Parvati Valley. I also learnt a lot of camera technique and edit patterns during this time of research, that helped me with the music videos that happened subsequently,” says Sachin.
Speaking about his signature style of filmmaking — combining abstract imagery with urban Indian visuals, he says, “I had a keen interest in the performing arts and always wanted to be able to design experiences. I felt, cinema is a great format for this and I’m most comfortable behind the camera. I started with the television industry after coming to Mumbai and later, after learning FX, Photoshop and FCP, I moved into advertising for a year before freelancing as a DOP, director and sometimes editor.”
“Now, I have started a small production house. I pretty much shoot what I have access to. I have spent some time studying light. Abstract imagery has been the root of my work for a very long time and I feel they express complex feelings or emotional states without making it obvious. I use a visual or stimulus that makes me feel a certain way and relate it to more obvious imagery to create a bridge between these two trains of thought.”
Referring to his hometown, the Paravur native says, “My father shifted from Kerala to Faridabad, Haryana, for his work and I remember being there from a pretty early age. So, I have, unfortunately, not worked on Malayalam language projects. But, I think Malayalam films have a lot to offer. I have always been in awe of filmmakers like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, John Abraham and Mani Kaul and, of course, the gorgeous backdrop of Kerala itself. One of my first short films was based around monsoons. I shot it while I was at an Ayurvedic clinic in Thrissur due to back pain. I do plan to work in Kerala in the near future, although I badly need to brush up on my Malayalam.”
His interactive installation, Infinity, at the Story of Light Festival in Goa was much talked about. “Infinity was basically an experiment with light that was initially introduced to me by VJ Viktor Furiani on one of his trips to India. The idea was to see what happens in a relatively intangible space where you just have to try things out to understand them. With video installations I feel that I can create an experience that is in the realm of ordinary human life and not a narration, but a live interaction, making it intensely personal — visually as well as thematically,” he says.
Referring to his upcoming projects, “Currently I’m working with journalist Kerry Harwin on a documentary series on marginalised communities in India. Besides that, I have a couple of music videos planned with a few great musicians, but the dates are not set. In addition, I will be displaying some of my more art-based works at the Blackout Festival in Basel, Switzerland, in September. I am excited to see what the future brings, and would love to make a full length feature one of these days, as opposed to the shorter formats that I frequently explore and love.”
