d3rang3d Interviews : Balaji Kumar

Very few movies this year have made the d3 team sit back and go "wow", but Balaji Kumar's directorial debut feature 9 Lives of Mara, a rich blend of the supernatural and pyschological suspense, managed to make us sit up and take notice. Quite rightly singled out for an honorable mention at the Fright Night film fest, this has got to rate as one of the finest of subtle horrors to come our way in a long time.

You can check out the official site for the movie at www.9livesofmara.com

But, you don't want to hear from me - not when director Balaji Kumar has kindly given d3rang3d an interview and has many interesting things to say. So, without any more of my blurb, I give you Balaji Kumar, director of 9 Lives of Mara :-

d3rang3d : Many of our readers won't have seen 9 Lives of Mara so, in your own words can you tell us a bit about it?

Balaji Kumar : It’s about obsession and consequences. Robin, a twelve-year-old boy, finds himself fixated on the idea that his new stepmother is a witch. Through the lenses of mental instability, he equates anything she does with this peculiar idea. Whether he’s right or wrong, he spirals into complete madness and feels compelled to take action. This yields consequences—both real and imagined, natural and supernatural.

d3rang3d : What’s your favourite scene in the movie?

Balaji Kumar : That would be the scene between young Robin and his little sister Mary in the beginning of the film. In it, Mary asks Robin if they are going to have a “new mommy” which Robin struggles to answer. It’s my favorite because first of all, I feel that it strongly establishes Robin’s character, but from Mary’s perspective. It also demonstrates the bond between these two very vulnerable children, and shows the pressure that Robin feels. When my co-writer Eric Massey and I went over the scene in the course of two weeks, we discussed how important it was for setting the tone of the rest of the film as well as establishing the stakes. I’m very happy about how it turned out.

d3rang3d : And is there anything you would go back and change about 9 Lives of Mara if you could?

Balaji Kumar : I would tilt it more to the cerebral side than its current form, making it even more psychologically poetic and pushing the boundaries even further.

d3rang3d : 9 Lives of Mara is your first feature - what was the biggest challenge you faced in getting it made?

Balaji Kumar : Good question, and one not entirely easy to answer. I would say that translating the film from the script phase to the production phase, in terms of its visual architecture, presented a huge challenge.

Meaning, the technical complexity required us to blend various formats, namely, 16mm, 35mm and still images, into one unified whole. Then we had to weave the main characters’ narration, the documentarian’s commentary, dialogue, and finally the sound design—all of this had to flow over these blended images seamlessly. That proved to be quite challenging, let me tell you. Since we were working with a shoe-string budget, we had no room for error or funds for R&D, so our guesswork had to be pretty damn accurate.

d3rang3d : Any stories - serious or funny - that you could share with us from the set of 9 Lives of Mara?

Balaji Kumar : You mean like the day the cat locked himself into his trailer and refused to come out until his bowl of blue M&Ms arrived? Seriously, to fully answer this would require a book. Every day of making a film is an adventure and presents its own challenges. If the director and the crew aren’t ready to meet and (perhaps most importantly) exceed these hardships—no matter how difficult they may be—then there’s no point in starting.

d3rang3d : And anyone among cast or crew whom you would like to single out for a special mention?

Balaji Kumar : It’s impossible to single out any one person from the cast and crew when everyone gave me more than what I expected of them. But Spencer Garrett, who played the psychologist, blew me away. I’m singling him out because he came onboard just a couple of days before we shot his scene, and had no time for any preparation whatsoever. I remember talking to him for 5 minutes during lunch break. Something about him impressed me, and he lived up to it. His performance not only resonated with the film, but also created a balance I wanted in the storyline.

d3rang3d : You shot the movie in just 18 days - quite a feat. Did you find this pressure enhanced the final movie and brought out the best in everyone?

Balaji Kumar : As one filmmaker aptly put it, “It’s not a shoot, it’s a run.” That’s exactly how I felt. You’re on a constant roll, in a state of flow, where you’re bound to have “happy accidents.” Your mind is more receptive to lateral ideas. And the entire team works as a unified whole. In that sense I can say that the 18 day pressure played a sweet role in the film’s outcome.

d3rang3d : And was there anything you had to leave out of the movie because of it?

Balaji Kumar : Of course. I had to create a different ending, for one thing. It required additional locations and additional actors. I also had a couple more scenes with the stepmother that shows her eerie, strange behavior. Overall, I think I had to leave out about 10 minutes of the movie from the original script. But, that’s the thrill of working on an independent film: One must adapt to the circumstances and evolve.

d3rang3d : It's jumping ahead what with your first feature 9 Lives of Mara having only just premiered, but what's next on the drawing board for Balaji Kumar? And will you be continuing to direct in the horror genre?

Balaji Kumar : I’m collaborating once again with screenwriter Eric Massey on a horror project he’s crafted. It’s a throwback to the classic haunted house tale and has atmosphere dripping off its pages. Eric’s a phenomenal writer, and I think I can bring a lot to it. We’re aiming to create another genre subset: Intelligent horror, films that really get under the audience’s skin before ripping it apart.

d3rang3d : When you are making a horror movie many times you will set out to scare and shock - but what really scares or shocks you personally?

Balaji Kumar : In a word, tension. I value well crafted tension above anything else. Without it, there are no scares or shocks. These merely punctuate the moments, but there must be something to draw you in before them.

d3rang3d : What horror films from other directors - old or new - would you list among your favourites?

Balaji Kumar : Roman Polanski would head the list. His personal life aside, his early psychological horror films showed an economy of style and precision that’s missing in many films today. I have nothing against showing blood, but gore for gore’s sake can be quite boring. It’s the idea behind the action that must be frightening.

d3rang3d : And, finally - the open non question. Your chance to say anything you like about any subject under the sun - thank the fans, cuss the critics, plug your favourite beer. Anything goes, so any final words?

Balaji Kumar : Well, I have to say that the critics have been quite kind to us so far, so there’s no need to cuss anyone in that department. I would also like to thank Jina (Jina Panebianco-producer)and Pollyanna (Pollyanna McIntosh – Mara/Maria) for their continued support. Finally if your readers would like to know more about our project, please visit our Web site at www.9livesofmara.com and I humbly thank you for your time.