What was the moment in your life when you realised cinema was your calling?

My father, Prathap Kumar, was a cinematographer and worked as an associate with Jayanan Vincent. I grew up hearing stories about cinema and his experiences on the sets. I suppose that’s where the thought of coming into cinema first took root, somewhere in the back of my mind.

Editing is a difficult skill to master. What made you choose editing as your career?

Even though cinema was my passion, I also wanted the security of a proper job and income. So, instead of jumping straight into filmmaking and its uncertainties, I chose to study BSc Animation.

Editing was one of the subjects in our course. When I edited a trailer for the first time, everyone liked it, and I realised I enjoyed editing far more than 2D or 3D animation. Maybe it was again that pull towards cinema because editing was the only part of the course directly related to feature films.

After the course, I got placed in an animation company, but the income wasn’t what I had hoped for. So I began editing wedding videos. It paid better, and I enjoyed it more. From there, I started editing short films, and eventually, cinema happened.

Could you elaborate on your big break?

I started as an associate editor on Swathanthryam Ardharathriyil and later worked independently on Pathrosinte Padappukal. Before that, I was an associate and spot editor for about 10-12 films.

Anoop Kannan, my father’s friend and a director-producer, recommended me to editor Shameer Muhammed. The reason I got to work as an associate editor in my very first film was because Thomas P Sebastian, who was the associate editor of the film at the time, had to leave for another project, That opened a slot for me. Thomas is also the co-writer of Bromance.