His short films are some of the most watched and much loved ones. Kaarthik Shankar is known for delivering heartwarming performances and the stories he pen down are applauded for its simple everyday themes. Most of his short films have crossed 10 lakh views of YouTube.
Kaarthik was all over the internet lately through the viral short film Veppila. But that is not his first experience at going viral. “I have acted and directed in over 20 short films. Most of those are also penned by me,” says Kaarthik.
His entry into the world of short films happened while in college “The first short film I directed was named Thudakkam. It was done as part of the college film club. After that, I went onto make 4-5 short films while in college.”
Kaarthik then went to pursue higher education in sound engineering and later joined as an assistant to director Rajasenan. “I was part of both his latest projects – Wound and Radio Jockey. After that, I made the short film Sharikal Maathram.” Sharikal Maathram was hugely successful and had gone viral; it is also one of the most viewed Malayalam short films.
Kaarthik, who is also a musician, has composed background score and songs for many of his short films. He also handles the editing and sound design aspect of the films that he is part of.
Another recent video of Karthik that had gone viral was a heartwrenching story of a son remembering his mother. This, yet again, was another tear-jerker from him.
“I am currently at the planning stage of another short film. Direction gives a lot of satisfaction. I do love acting as well, it is easier. I equally love scripting and I have so far bought out stories of families.”
So what makes his works massive hits? “Personally, I feel that the stories I write are the ones that we would see every other day, it does have a social message of some kind as well. My stories have no special elements, but when I write a story with a message, I usually try to add an interesting twist in the climax, for the commercial aspect. Something that would make the audience sit tight. It’s all in the twist,” he says.
