Anjali Menon: I Gave Koode Actors An English Script And Told Them To Make Up Their Lines

Director and writer Anjali Menon is best known for her work on the acclaimed Bangalore Days and Ustad Hotel. Ahead of the release of her next film, Koode, she spoke to us about what drew her to to the project and why it has minimal dialogues:

"Koode has been an interesting journey. After Bangalore Days, I took a while to come to Koode. This time, with the actors, I have tried a few different things, and there are certain risks with this film as well. When you see it you will know. It's just something that I instinctively decided to do. It has never been a calculated step-wise career path. It's just been like, 'Right now I feel like doing this' and for the next 6 months, it will hold my attention, so I just go and do it. So, Koode is one of those. I am hoping that the audience will connect to certain things that we are conveying in the film. So, I am excited and nervous. Let's see."

She added that she was drawn to the way the film captured sibling relationships.

"At the core of Koode, there is this brother-sister relationship, and I am someone who is blessed with wonderful brothers. When you watch the film, you will understand that there is a certain experience which really stayed with me."

Menon also said that while the awareness of a language is important, it does not form the crux of a film. "I have been told that dialogues are so important, but this time I have tried to throw the dialogue out. So, I am excited about that aspect, because if there's a certain strength that I want to build on, then I cannot keep relying on that one strength. Many of my films have voiceovers and I did not want to do that. I wanted to break that pattern and I've tried to get out. Even the process with the actors, this time, has been very interesting, because to some of them I didn't even give them a Malayalam script. I gave them a script in English and I said, 'Now, make up your lines'. I feel it really helped this time. Like that, we have done things differently and I hope that results show that."