Dominic Arun on 'Lokah': ‘We Wrote Around 23 Drafts Before We Shot the Film’

If directing often looks like the hardest part of making a film, Dominic Arun is quick to disagree. “I think writing is the most difficult process while making a film. For me, writing was a big struggle,” he says.

That struggle stretched across years. Arun reveals that Lokah went through nearly two dozen drafts before it reached the version that was finally shot. “We had written around 23 drafts before we shot the film. And that took at least three years of time,” he adds.

The long writing process, he explains, was about finding clarity. “It was just about getting everything right, at least what we believe is the film that we want to make,” he says. Having the right collaborators was crucial to surviving that phase. Arun credits Santhy Balachandran as a key creative partner during the screenplay stage. “I had a great collaborator in Santhy to help me with the screenplay of the film,” he says.

Once the writing was locked, the rest of the process felt lighter by comparison. “Directing is much more easier,” Arun admits. The reason, he says, was the team around him. “I had a great team, I think one of the best teams in our industry.” 

Writing, however, remained emotionally taxing till the very end. “There are days that you feel like this is something that you cannot do,” he says, describing the familiar paralysis that sets in during long development phases. The self-doubt, he adds, is relentless. “And then there are good days as well.”

That cycle of doubt and small breakthroughs is something Arun believes every writer experiences. Lokah needed time because the story needed time to settle. It demanded patience and the willingness to stay with uncertainty for years before the answers became clear. Looking back, the 23 drafts do not feel excessive to him. For Arun, writing was not just one step before directing began; it was where the film truly took shape