In conversation with Midhun Murali, recipient of National Film Awards for best editing

I first spoke to Midhun Murali in 2012, when he brought out a bunch of short films with his friend from college, Nevin Fradian. Both had just finished their engineering and were nurturing movie dreams, with Midhun focussing on editing. Now, over a decade later, Midhun is basking in the glory of the National Film Awards (2023) for best editing for the film, Pookkaalam, directed by Ganesh Raj. It was double delight for the film’s crew since Vijayaraghavan won the national honour for the best supporting actor.

“I was shocked when I heard my name. We were expecting an award for Kuttettan (Vijayaraghavan). My award came out of the blue,” says 36-year-old Midhun. Pookkaalam is only his second film as an editor, the first one being Kalamandalam Hyderali released in 2020.

The film tells the heart-warming tale of 100-year-old Ittoop (Vijayaraghavan) and his large extended family. During a function, Ittoop stumbles upon a letter which shatters his relationship with Kochuthresia (KPAC Leela), his wife of 80 years.

Midhun says that Vijayaraghavan’s performance made Pookkaalam very special for him. The actor was 72 when he played the 100-year-old Ittoop. “He had given so much for the role, be it through his body language, make-up, dialogues, gestures or mannerisms. My job was cut out for me because he was extraordinary in all the scenes. I wanted to keep all that, but that is not how it works. It was quite a task to choose the best out of the best. I was happy that I could work in a movie that has Kuttettaan’s career-best performance.”

Midhun mentions that after the first cut, the duration of the film was three hours 15 minutes. “We reduced it by one hour for which we had to let go off many scenes in which he was superb. When Kuttettan saw the full movie, he was a little disappointed that many scenes were not there.” Midhun is quick to add that KPAC Leela, a veteran theatre actor, also did full justice to her role.

The film is divided into chapters in which the story alternates between different time periods. “There are a lot of visual jumps on account of that. I had to make the narrative seamless. Anend (cinematographer Anend C Chandran) played a crucial role in executing this,” he says. Music by Sachin Warrier also complemented the process, he adds.

Midhun says he had fun editing the light-hearted scenes featuring Basil Joseph and Vineeth Sreenivasan. “The comedy is over-the-top in some instances, but that was reined in by the two actors,” says Midhun, adding, “Ganesh and Basil have been Vineeth’s assistants and so there was a happy vibe on the set.”

Midhun recalls that while pursuing his Plus Two, he wanted to become a filmmaker. “But, in college, I got a chance to edit dance programmes and plays. I realised the potential of the craft and soon started enjoying the process. I think an editor is like a second director. So, probably, once I gather the experience, I might direct a film. We have many editor-directors around,” he says referring to Mahesh Narayanan, Abhinav Sunder Nayak, Appu Bhattathiri and others.

Talking about his stint with short films, Midhun remembers Shaaey, one of the films that became popular. “That was when social media was gaining a hold. The film was widely appreciated. Since I was sure about making movies I did not even try to get a job, which did not go down well with my family. My sister has been extremely supportive though. I did a six-month editing course in Mumbai and assisted an editor in Chennai for some time. By 2014, I turned a freelance editor.”

Ganesh has been his acquaintance since 2011. “We collaborated on a few projects. Unfortunately I could not work in his first film (Aanandam).”

Although they were supposed to start shooting Pookkaalam in 2021, the pandemic upset their plans. It took two more years for the film to reach theatres.

Midhun says some recognition is coming editors’ ways these days. “People are discussing editors and their style. The scenario is such that there are hundreds of editors out there, the ones who put up reels on social media. Since they know the basics of editing they can judge our work and understand the effort that goes into it.”

Shrinking attention spans makes an editor’s job challenging, he points out. “Content and emotion have to be placed correctly,” he says. In this context, he rates Ponman as one of the best-edited Malayalam movies of the recent times. “It has been adapted from a book. The pace at which the story is told for the screen is brilliant.”

Meanwhile, he is waiting for a few new projects to start rolling.