Bahul Ramesh, who joined the listing of cinematographers-cum-scriptwriters in Malayalam cinema with Kishkindha Kaandam, the acclaimed slow-burning thriller by Dinjith Ayyathan, is again once more as scenarist with the second season of the web sequence, Kerala Crime Files: The Search for CPO Ambili Raju. Directed by Ahammed Khabeer, the sequence is being mentioned for its taut screenplay, nuanced character arcs and novel themes.
The motion is ready in the fictitious Kaniyarvila police station limits in Thiruvananthapuram. The officers posted there are being transferred as a result of of their alleged nexus with criminals. When, Ambili Raju (Indrans), one of the cops, goes lacking, the newly-appointed officers, Circle Inspector Kurian (Lal) and Sub Inspector Noble (Arjun Radhakrishnan) and their crew begin the investigation, which ultimately results in stunning revelations about Ambili and his particular bond with an ex-convict Ayyappan (Harisree Ashokan). But as the narrative transfer in the direction of the climax, extra truths emerge, ultimately resulting in apprehending the perpetrator.
Cinematographer-writer Bahul Ramesh
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In a free-wheeling dialog with MetroPlus, Bahul says that he didn’t put stress on himself pondering it was the second season of a profitable present. “Ahammed ikka (Ahammed Khabeer, director of both seasons of KCF) contacted me in September 2023 asking if we could work on the new season. I had just finished Kishkindha Kaandam. He had only a month to pitch the story idea to the streaming platform. It is difficult for me to arrive at a thread just like that, my stories usually develop only once I start writing. I also wanted to give Ahammed enough time to find another story/writer if my idea did not work. However, he was confident and his only request was to include a few characters from the first season so that the viewers are reminded of the franchise,” Bahul says.
Bahul grew to become pals with Ahammed at LV Prasad College of Media Studies, Chennai, the place he studied cinematography and Ahammed had executed an internship. “Even though he had interned much before I joined, we met through mutual friends. I looked forward to working with him, irrespective of the format or my designation. Jithin Stanislaus, the series’ DOP, is also a senior,” he says.
The writing for KCF didn’t contain lots of analysis as many would suppose. “I have put down the basic things I know, corroborated by what I read in the newspapers, saw on social media, or heard from others. There was no reference for the police characters. Once I finished the script, I fact-checked with experts and consulted a police officer who had helped Ahammed ikka in the first season. It was he who gave us the term passport adichu kitti, a phrase that the police use for transfer orders.”
Indrans in the second season of the web sequence, Kerala Crime Files
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Bahul’s experience, on the subject of character improvement, is on present in KCF because it was in Kishkindha Kaandam. The method he peels layers of the characters is a mainstay of the story. However, Bahul stresses that it’s not deliberate. “I don’t design my characters. The focus is on writing original dialogues and when I do that, the layers show as a byproduct of the process. I don’t finalise the story and then write. The narrative develops as I work scene by scene,” he explains.
In the context he mentions the scene the place Ambili asks his daughter to go to Ayyappan’s home and enquire about him. “Her reluctance to go there hints at tension between the two characters. At the same time, I did not want the daughter’s character to be one-dimensional. It was only after establishing this premise that I worked out the relation between Ambili and Ayyappan.”
Arjun Radhakrishnan and Suresh Kumar in a nonetheless from the web sequence, Kerala Crime Files Season 2
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Bahul stresses that he was not involved about adapting his writing to the web sequence format, particularly arriving at a cliffhanger after every episode. “I didn’t follow that template. I wanted to keep it organic, without gimmicks. It was about pushing the envelope and arriving at a situation naturally, as I travelled with my characters.”
In reality, he had “an interesting way” to repair the period of every episode. “Ahammed ikka said that five episodes could be of 30 minutes, and the last one slightly longer. So, once I wrote the 40-page first episode, I gave it to my father to read. It took him 25 minutes and I gauged that it could be the approximate running time of that episode. That is how I got the meter to anchor my syntax. As I wrote each episode, I took it towards a conclusion, keeping that duration in mind, without twists or cliffhangers. Thus, each episode had an organic ending.”
Arjun Radhakrishnan in a nonetheless from the web sequence, Kerala Crime Files Season 2
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Now that deliberations are on about the ‘show, don’t inform’ strategy in the sequence, particularly the climax, Bahul avers that he didn’t need to take the apparent route. “It does not have an open ending. We have laid to rest all doubts, without stating the obvious. The answers lie in the final scene when Noble smiles, seeing the pack of dogs, thus declaring that his speculations were right.”
Arjun Radhakrishnan and Aju Varghese in a nonetheless from the web sequence, Kerala Crime Files Season 2
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Interestingly canine are integral to the storyline and his exploration of the human-animal bond is coronary heart warming. “Their roles became important as I started working on the script. We had an expert who helped us execute scenes with the dogs. It was, obviously, difficult to make them act on demand. The director and DOP were patient enough to get the right shot.”
About that includes a canine with a cognitive incapacity, Bahul says that he got here throughout a situation at a good friend’s home. “They had a visually impaired dog. It was disturbing. But that’s where I got the idea that a dog with a disability would be an interesting material for the series,” he says.
Becoming a author was a dream Bahul selected to maintain on the again burner. “I knew that scripting films was a gamble. Your story could get rejected and if chosen you don’t know when it would become a film. So I decided to focus on cinematography, settle in that space, and then start writing scripts.”
Bahul Ramesh with Bilas Ramachandran on the set of Kerala Crime Files Season 2
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That alternative got here throughout throughout the lockdown, “since there was nothing else to do. My first script was based on the theme of lockdown which Dinjith Ayyathan was keen to make into a film. That’s when I came up with the story of Kishkindha Kaandam and he felt that we should make that first.”
Bahul factors out that he doesn’t lose sleep over whether or not folks like his scripts or not. “I follow my instincts, my intuitions. I am open to correcting my mistakes. This attitude comes from parental conditioning. Thanks to my parents who never forced me to study. I have never been under pressure to perform well. They were happy with whatever marks I got. Once, on the eve of my Plus 1 exam, I was so nervous that I thought I would fail. I told my father this and asked if we could go watch a film. He was game and we watched the late evening show of In Ghost House Inn, which was the only movie playing in theatres then!”
Lal and Arjun Radhakrishnan in a scene from Kerala Crime Files Season 2
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He is open to criticism as effectively. “I want people to express their opinion, be it negative or positive. It is encouraging that they are at least thinking about it. I believe that such observations help in the growth of the content. Sometimes they surprise me with findings that I had never thought of. It is motivating when someone points out that I have tried to do something different. I never wanted to fall back on something that was easy, convenient or formulaic.”
Meanwhile, he has completed the shoot for Dinjith’s subsequent film, starring Sandeep Pradeep, due for launch later this 12 months.
