Director Goutham Soorya on his web series ‘Porul’

A three-year-old boy Thoma went missing from his home 27 years ago. His mother Mary, however, still waits for him. Porul, a web series produced by Malayalam content creator Karikku, unravels the mystery behind the incident. The five-episode investigative thriller directed by Goutham Soorya keeps viewers hooked to the narrative with its making and performances.

The story starts with Ravi, the protagonist, a clerk with the cyber cell, coming to meet Mary. Apparently, his father, Venugopal, an upright police officer who investigated Thoma’s disappearance, had recovered Thoma’s shirt from a lake thus leading to the conclusion that he might have drowned. But Mary refuses to believe that and keeps sending letters to Venu, accusing him of not finding the truth behind her son’s disappearance. Ravi arrives at Mary’s house to inform her that his father is no more. But he soon realises that Mary’s suspicions are not misplaced and sets out to uncover the truth.

Goutham, who co-directed the acclaimed feature film Sleeplessly Yours (2018), has released two of his music videos – ‘Chiri Pattu’ and ‘Thoraathe’ – on Karikku Tuned, the record label of Karikku. He wrote and directed his first web series for Karikku, Priyappettavan Piyush, the breezy story of a bachelor who wants to get married in five days as per an astrologer’s advice.

“Nikhil Prasad [founder Karikku] asked if I could come up with serious content — crime or investigative thriller. I discussed it with Malavika, my wife, [editor of the series] and we arrived at an outline. After that I sat down with my co-writer, Vivek Joseph Varughese, and developed it into a story over the next two weeks,” says Goutham.

Karikku, with 9.42 million subscribers, is a household name with its humour-laced content. “Viewers look forward to see comedy in all their productions and that happened when Priyappettavan… was released. But since the series was not an out-and-out light-hearted work, viewers expressed their disappointment in their comments and I was not prepared for that. Perhaps, they expected a lot of laughs on seeing the trailer. However, in the case of Porul, there were no such adverse remarks,” he says.

Filmmaker Goutham Soorya
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Goutham points out that the Karikku team did not interfere during the making. “The process is that first I submit a rough draft, then a one-page summary and if that is approved, I give the episode breakdown. Once that is cleared, we develop the script. Except for doubts and clarifications any viewer would have there was no intervention from their part. As a content creator with such a huge subscriber base they know what will work,” he says.

The cast was decided following discussions with the team of Karikku, he says. Maala Parvathi as Mary, Ann Saleem as her daughter Annie and James Elia as Mary’s husband, Jacob, shine through the series. The actors from the Karikku team are Anu K Aniyan as Ravi and Unni Mathews as a civil police officer.

With positive reviews coming in from all quarters, Goutham gives full credit to his crew. It was the same team that worked on Priyappettavan…. “We were over-ambitious, especially with regard to shooting in multiple locations. The story was set on a wide canvas and we managed to pull it off with the limited resources available, thanks to the selfless crew. The visuals (TR Vishnu) and music (Rithu Vysakh) have been appreciated,” he says.

Anu K Aniyan and James Elia in a still from Porul
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While the indoor scenes were set in different parts of the same house in Fort Kochi, the outdoor sequences were shot in Thekkady and in and around Cumbum, Gudalur and Theni. The shoot was completed in around 15 days.

Goutham observes that writing for a film and web series involves the same character arches and emotional progressions. “The challenge lies in pacing the work in such a way that the viewer does not pause in between and restart. Every episode has to end on a high, with a hook for the next episode. In fact, this is more important in the first episode. Otherwise people won’t bother to watch the rest of the episodes,” he explains.

Ann Saleem and Anu K Aniyan in a still from Porul
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The filmmaker, who is currently working on a few scripts, stresses that he does not treat writing and direction separately. “For me, they are part of the same process,” he says. Goutham mentions that although he prefers movies of all genres, he cannot write horror or slapstick content. “I choose to write thrillers or investigative stuff. I would have loved to write science fiction or fantasy stories if there was a space to make them into movies,” he says.

Goutham adds that he is open to doing both web series and films. “I will decide as and when the opportunity comes. There are filmmakers who have been holding on to one story for years and waiting to bring it on screen. I may not be able to invest myself emotionally in one story like them. I prefer to move on to new stories that give me gratification,” he says.

Porul is streaming on Karikku’s YouTube channel.