Interview | Malayalam filmmaker Vinod AK : ‘Moonwalk’ is inspired by several real-life stories

For Vinod AK, his directorial debut, Moonwalk, is a trip down memory lane to an era when a generation was addicted to breakdance, Michael Jackson and, of course, the moonwalk. Vinod has packed it all in this slice-of-life narrative about a bunch of young men in the late ‘80s, who fell in love with the dance style and weaved their world around it even as they navigated the ups and downs of their personal lives.

The ad filmmaker’s journey to Moonwalk can be attributed to his student days in Thiruvananthapuram. “We were fans of the disco trend and loved watching the likes of Kamal Haasan and Mithun Chakraborthy grooving. But when we were introduced to breakdance, you can’t imagine the kick we got from the moves, the music, the steps and the style. I was wonder struck when I first saw it live on stage. A group of us friends used to go for all such programmes and some of us got on stage as well.”

He mentions some of the famous breakdance teams of the time in Thiruvananthapuram such as Footloosers, Spindles and Boomers. “We were in awe of their hair, costumes, and attitude. But as years passed by, most of these teams were disbanded.”

He had not planned to make a film on this subject. “I had other stories with me and had almost reached the production stages of a project, but had to drop it. That was when I thought of a movie on the breakdancing community,” he says.

The major impetus being a documentary on the breakdancing community that he had conceptualised. “We had covered dancers from across Kerala with Jomith Johny, who is in my team, tracking down several veterans.”

The documentary could not be released, Vinod says, as it was too long and there were some copyright issues as well. “That’s when we realised that there was enough content for a feature film. We flexed the draft and came up with a script,” says Vinod, who co-wrote it with Mathew Varghis and Sunil Gopalakrishnan, who have been working with him on his ad films.

Still from Moonwalk
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Vinod admits that Moonwalk is inspired by several real-life stories. “It is a compilation of what happened in the lives of multiple dancers. But we have tweaked those true events because some of these stories are heartbreaking,” he says.

Vinod says that but for the pandemic the film would have released earlier. “Although we had planned for breaks in the schedule to show different phases in the lives of the characters, COVID-19 delayed it further.”

A portion was completed in 2020, Vinod says, and the rest in 2023 and 2024. “There was confusion about taking it forward and the producers, who were actually my clients, were forced to back out because neither they nor I were sure about how it would turn out.”

However, a saviour came in the form of director Lijo Jose Pellissery. He backed the project, the other two producers being Listin Stephen and Jasnin Ahamed.

“But for Lijo the film would still remain unreleased. It was Prashant Pillai (composer of the movie) who told Lijo about the project. He liked and stressed that it has to be mounted and distributed on a bigger scale. As for Listin, he had called me when we released a trailer three years ago. Although nothing happened at that time it seems he was destined to be associated with it.”

The young, new faces have become the talking point of the film with their performance and their dance moves. “Our initial plan was to have only actors from Thiruvananthapuram in the cast since the dialect would be easy for them. But that didn’t materialise.”

Some known young actors were to be included to up the commercial value of the film, Vinod says. “That didn’t work out since they didn’t look the age of the characters — 17 or thereabouts. Even with make-up and costumes, it would have been difficult for them to play that vulnerable age. Also, they had busy schedules and didn’t have time to prepare for the roles.”

After several auditions they found apt actors from across Kerala and even outside. Key roles are played by Anunath (Jake), Sujith (Arun), Rishi Kainikara (Varun), Manoj Moses (Shaji), Sidharth Babu (Shibu), Prem Shankar (Sudeep), Appu Asgar (Anikuttan) and Sibi Kuttappan (Sura).

“They were trained by Sreejith Dazzlers, one of the celebrated choreographers in the state. I contacted him after watching his work in Amen. The best thing about him is that he is familiar with the breaking styles in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, which have many differences. He was worked with me in my ad films also.”

Vinod adds, “Now you can go to YouTube or social media to learn any dance style. Back then, these dancers learned the steps from one another. So there is something amateurish about the way they perform. We have tried to keep that in the initial scenes where these boys are trying to learn the style.”

The Moonwalk team also brought in some of the veteran breakdancers from across Kerala for the pre-release promotions. “The film is about them and so we found it apt to have them,” he says.

Vinod AK, director of Moonwalk
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The film is set in Thiruvananthapuram in late ‘80s and suitable locations were hard to come by. “Kazhakkoottam, for example is no longer the quiet, underdeveloped area it used to be and so we had to shoot certain scenes in another part of the city. Finding a rough, uneven asphalt road was another challenge!”

Music and background score are the mainstay of the movie and Vinod believes that Prashant Pillai was the best to have on board. “Initially, I wanted multiple composers. Since I have worked with Prashant on some ads, I discussed the project with him. He was so excited that he immediately said ‘We are doing it.’ So there was no question of going to anyone else. I love his approach to music; he surprises you with his tunes and there is a different vibe in his works. He gave his heart and soul to the idea. He used to send samples and that helped in detailed visualisation of the sequences.”

Vinod is disheartened that they could not use original Michael Jackson songs or footage owing to copyright infringement issues. “Lijo was specific about not violating it; Prashant was also cautious. For example, the scene where they are about to play the DVD of MJ’s Thriller, we planned it in such a way that they can’t watch it because the screen wobbles. We tweaked the original track also! It is sad that we could not use his songs or moves. That would have taken the film to another level. But we could not afford to take that chance,” he says.