A debut matters the most politics and cinema

Director Ambarish BM, who will debut with the socially-relevant film Jwalantham this Friday, is a simple man from a humble background. Hailing from a family of farmers in Malur, he grew up with aspirations of becoming a director someday, preparing himself for it by writing scripts, screenplays and even lyrics as a ghostwriter for many films and shortfilms, and, in the process, supporting himself financially to keep his dream alive.That his first film will be releasing this week is a matter of pride for him, he claims.
'Jwalantham isn't just a culmination of a few years of my hardwork. It's close to a decade of effort on my part to get to where I have come. I have many story ideas in my
head, most of them about issues plaguing our society, because I've always been very socially-conscious. Even my education was in sociology, social work and filmmaking to help me have a better grasp on the subject. Having grown up amid a farming community, I've seen the hardships they face, which is why I chose that as the base for my film,' says Ambarish.
Ambarish's passion for filmmaking is evident when asked about Jwalantham and its shooting experience ' despite being a debutant, he shows immense clarity in his thought and the determination to do justice to his script. Speaking about the film, he says, 'Jwalantham's theme revolves around the emigration of farmers. We've shot it as realistically as possible, having conducted a month-long acting workshop for the cast before we even started shooting. Every scene in the second of the film will be a new experience for the audience, scenes that've never been shot before. Take for example a scene where the hero was required to be neck-deep in the sand, very close to the sea, for 20 straight days, only taking breaks for sleep. We did that to bring in authenticity to the look and movements of a person who has been in such a situation. Producers were very hard to get by at first for this script, but for this film, they've given me so much freedom and not interfered in the filmmaking process at all. In fact, till 15 days ago when I had showed them the film, they had not seen any portion of it.'
While he has also written the lyrics for five of the film's songs, it is direction that really gets his heart racing. 'Filmmaking is just an extension of who I am. For me, cinema is a part of the society we live in. What I observe, I'd like to portray through my films, which is why most of the ideas for a story and its characters formulate in my mind when I'm walking or taking a bike ride. I'd like my films to be as realistic as possible, with little or no exaggeration in either the plot or the characters in it. Of course I have a lot to learn, but the prospect of learning much more about filmmaking from here on excites me a lot.'
Speaking about today's cinema audience, Ambarish says, 'Audience today is not only open to new and experimental subjects, but they are also very educated. It's not just about the story, music or the main cast anymore. They scrutinize the background score, the camera work, lighting and shot composition, etc. So for a film to really succeed today, filmmakers have to pay attention to even the tiniest of details, and I've attempted to do just that.'