Keerthy Suresh’s Raghu Thatha may be Suman Kumar’s debut directorial, but the filmmaker is no new face to audience, who have consumed his works as a writer through series like The Family Man, Farzi and Guns & Gulaabs. A close associate of filmmaker duo Raj and DK, Suman Kumar is not only a writer and director, but also a stand-up comedian and screenwriter. Precisely all the mediums which channels and aids him into being a storyteller.

“Well, it was a childhood thing when my mother used to ask me to get groceries from outside. In those days, they would wrap up podis in a paper cone and cutting the sharp end of it. But I wouldn’t make him do that, and instead read what’s on it. Mostly, it would either the middle, start or end of a story or news article, which would make me think about what would have been the rest of the story. I am perennially pregnant with stories and love attention,” Suman begins this conversation with. As he recalls his childhood and how on purpose gets punishment, so that he can get singled out and play as a storyteller to his classmates, Suman says how storytelling has always been the tradition in India.

Suman states that in cinema, stories are not that important as he elaborates. “Cinema is all about the treatment. It is always about how a protagonist overcomes a conflict, and manages to win or not. But the treatment on how we present it,” he adds.

Suman Kumar Interview for Raghu Thatha

Having had the experience of working in long format series, and now debuting with Raghu Thatha, Suman says, “In long form, the story never ends and you can go to another season. No matter how many series or films you have done, every new story is a new one. If you take The Family Man, it is about a middle-class guy and if he would save the day or not. But to say that alone is enough to say the second season will fall into place is presumptuous. I still have to crack every episode, and just like that films too have to be cracked, and even franchises too.”

With Raghu Thatha being headlined by Keerthy Suresh, and with the label “women-centric” often associated with films that are led by woman actors, Suman has one question to ask, “Would you ask Tarantino why he made woman-centric film called Kill Bill? I want to change the grammar that way. Raghu Thatha, as a story, stays honest to the core which is questioning the status quo. It is also the DNA of protagonist of Kayalvizhi.”

In Suman’s words, Raghu Thatha is a “hilarious story of a rebellious woman who is forced to choose between principle and patriarchy”. He further says, “It is a comedy drama, and the original story of Raghu Thatha was about a guy, during the anti-Hindi protests, is forced to get a girl. Now, if you remove that conflict, it is a guy getting a girl regular story. Now, I flipped it and made it as a woman’s story.”

Calling Keerthy Suresh a “hungry actor” who was first sceptical if she can pull of comedy, Suman recalls seeing her in Saani Kaayidham and how it showed a different role unexpected out of her. “She is very friendly, lot of banter with her. A greatest compliment you can give someone is call them fun. She is.”

‘Small films are being used as a derogatory term’

The filmmaker notes how expectations for a film and series are set differently. “Say you have a hook at the end of every episode, but in films, you have internal blocks. Hollywood films do not have such intermissions. I don’t write like that but you still need to write a great midpoint to make the audience thrilled. We are trying to craft an experience. We aim for perfection and settle for excellence,” he adds. Having said that, Suman reveals how Raghu Thatha will have a banger of midpoint, just made for the world of Kayalvizhi (Keerthy Suresh).

Moving on to talk if writers in Indian entertainment industry get their fair share of recognition, Suman gives a straight no as an answer and notes how being a writer is the toughest job. Citing the Hollywood writers’ strike, Suman says that writers in India are least recognised. “The first thing any production house would ask is who is being cast. How does it matter? It is because they think of the opening, and logistics. But I don’t believe. If I audition and pick fresh faces and happen to be good actors, the film will still be a hit. Small films are being used as a derogatory term.” Suman notes how films can be categorised big or small only through the experience they give, and not the budget or names associated with it. “I have faith now, with new crop of filmmakers.”

Suman notes that India has been fast-tracking its development, say like from landline phones to mobiles, street plays to series, as he adds that the young country is still on its steady way and rubbishes that small towns are still unreachable for other sources of entertainment. “I have heard people say manga is popular in Tenkasi, and there are so many social media influences coming from rural places. India is one country and million universes, and where thousands of stories come from.”

‘I became a director because I was on the sets as a writer’

Suman, who has visited the sets of projects in which he worked as a writer, says, “When you see so many bringing what you wrote to life is different. In fact, I became a director because I was on the sets as a writer.” The director also says that every screenwriter should be exposed to the pre-production, production, and post-production, citing that that the last re-write happens on the edit desk. He further explains how writers have boundaries within which one has to box their creativity.

The filmmaker recalls working on The Family Man’s second season where there was Sri Lankan Tamil connect, and how it is important for them to crack the right way to represent them. “I was on the sets even as a creative supervisor and acquired this knowledge on why we are taking each shot, and how to treat them.

As we wrap up conversation, Suman talks about the upcoming season of The Family Man, “It is going to be a zinger of a season. It is completely new world as compared to first two seasons. There will be new characters as well as usual suspects. It is not the Srikanth Tiwary we have seen so far,” he concludes.

Raghu Thatha releases in cinemas on August 15.

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