Editor Kiran Das On His Directorial Debut 'Unmadham': 'We Finished The Film Before Schedule, Within Budget'

Kerala State-award winning editor of classics such as Thondimuthalum Drishakshiyum and Joji, Kiran Das has waited for more than 40 films to begin his career as a director. It was this morning, “at 4AM to be precise”, that he has finally completed work on Unmadham, the film he has directed. Starring Kunchacko Boban and Lijomol Jose, the Malayalam film is headed for a theatrical release this week.

Das admits to being way more nervous than he’s ever been as a editor. He also knows that it’s only on July 31 that he will know for sure “if I’m cut out to be a director.” In an exclusive conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Das, who has also edited Unmadham, looks away from the monitor to speak about becoming a “reluctant director”. Excerpts...  

Do you recall the first instance when you considered becoming a director?

I think it was the result of a conversation we were having in Goa, during the IFFK of 2023. My friends were pushing me towards taking the plunge. I’m someone who enjoys his comfort zone and I even agree to a project because it gives me the chance to spend more time with people I’m fond of. So direction wasn’t really a part of my plan. I had films lined up to edit and I was also reasonably well paid. It’s fair to say I hadn’t really considered directing. 

What changed?  

Shahi Kabir is one of my closest friends and he’s been urging me to take up direction. Dileesh Pothan too has asked me to direct. But the queue of films I’d agreed to edit always made sure that I kept pushing this thought away. Usually I edit five to six films every year but my plan for 2026 was to just edit three films, that too major ones. And then suddenly, because of certain issues related to the stars, all those films I had lined up to edit, got pushed to next year. My year freed up and I got to thinking about directing again. 

You’ve visited several sets of the films you were editing. What were your thoughts about direction? 

That it was quite stressful. I’ve caught myself wondering why I should even take such a huge risk, just to prove to myself that I can direct. I usually visit the sets of people I’m very close to and I often get treated with a lot of comfort, but even then I’ve wondered why all these people take the trouble of shooting so much in the rain and in the sun. Usually I’m the guy who sits in an air-conditioned edit suite, shouting at the stuff that comes to me for edit (Laughs).

Has the experience of directing made you a kinder editor? 

I don’t think so. I guess directors come to me because I’m frank and forthright with my opinions about their films. My job as an editor is to be extra critical of the footage I’m given and to get into the process of rewriting it on the edit table. The director might have a vision for his film but then I work on finding my version of it. We discuss, fight, argue and somewhere in the middle is the final film. 

Was it always the plan to also edit the film? Doesn’t it add extra pressure? 

I was confused about the choice to do both. I realised that I might direct just one film in my lifetime, so I wanted to really enjoy the process. How I countered this confusion was by planning the film in the most traditional way…like how legends work. My idea was to create the shot division like we were shooting on film. I didn’t want to keep shooting and you can say that we were trying to shoot the edited version itself. That brought some more control into my hands, even though I knew there was going to be room for manipulations on the edit table. 

Wouldn’t it be much harder to achieve objectivity though, as both editor and director? 

That wasn’t really an issue. Apart from me, my long-time associate Jithin John is also an editor. He is someone who has worked with me in over 30 films. His style and edit pattern has formed in such a manner that it’s quite close to my own style. So he was always there to guide the edit. If I ask for something more, he is always there to keep it under control and to tell me when to stop; perhaps without his objective eye, the edit for a film I’m directing, may have been much harder.

Did you find yourself enjoying the shoot, finally?

After the first 10 days. We had planned to complete the film in 68 days but we finished it in just 63. We also completed the film within budget. But my realisation about enjoying directing is that it lies in your skill to find the right cast and crew. Once you find a crew whose company and inputs you enjoy, then the sets become a pleasure. 

But in the actual process of shooting a scene, which ones were you nervous about? Were it the highly dramatic ones? 

I’d say it was the comedy scenes. In the mindset of shooting, we never feel like laughing, but that’s what we’re trying to create. It’s always tough to shoot comedy and I was aware of that on those days. Then it was equally stressful to shoot heavy emotional scenes. There are scenes in the film which deal with mental issues of characters and mental powers. We were able to pull it off because I got such excellent actors. 

You’re beginning your directorial career with a script by Shahi Kabir. He has a 100 perfect hit ratio and his scripts are generally considered the most valuable in the industry…

This means that if my film doesn’t work, no one will blame Shahi. All the blame will fall on me (laughs). His scripts are extremely valuable and any director would want to grab hold of them. But Shahi is my closest friend and I’m aware of all the scripts he has written even after Unmadham.

Because Shahi Kabir is also a real-time police officer, do you rely on his expertise to achieve realism? 

Shahi was a part of the sets on all days. And because he’s there, all my questions about realism is to him. For instance, it’s no longer possible in Kerala to rent a real police station or a hospital for film shoots. So we travelled the entire length to find the perfect police station. Because of Shahi, we were able to find the Kongad police station which was abandoned in order to move into a newer building. We were lucky that way. Now inside the station, he told us everything from where the Writers Room is, the cafeteria, where they keep files…everything. We also had the option to plan the staging based on where such conversations would take place in reality. We even asked him what those pamphlets are on the notice board of a police station. It could be something as basic as that of an alumni meet. 

Is it fair to call the film less darker than Shahi’s older films?

See, it’s not a procedural. The police scenario is just a part of the ambience and the State or the System is not as important here as it is in his earlier films. The film does have an open ending, either. It has several layers that will come together better in a second viewing. It also has a happy ending, as long as that’s not a spoiler.  

What is your favourite script of Shahi’s? 

The one he’s going to make next. He’s got so many great ideas that it feels we’ve hardly scratched the surface. He’s already started work on his next with Panorama Studios. That could be it.