'Kaathirippu': A collective dream of film students finds space at IFFK

Thiruvananthapuram: Kaathirippu, written and directed by Nipin Narayanan, is a quiet, intimate film that unfolds over a single night. Set largely inside a secluded house, the film follows David, a reclusive man who spends his days repairing old electronic equipment. When a stranger named Anoop arrives seeking shelter for the night, their interaction gradually opens up layers of David's past and the moral choices that shape him.

Produced by a group of former students of the K R Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts (KRNNIVSA), Kaathirippu was made on a modest budget but with what the team describes as "complete collective ownership". The film premiered at the 30th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), where it received widespread audience acclaim.

Speaking to Onmanorama, director Nipin Narayanan said the film emerged from a belief that meaningful cinema need not depend on the backing of a large-scale production.

"When we talk about debut features, we usually imagine big theatrical releases backed by major production houses. But festivals allow us to see another kind of cinema — films made on a smaller scale, with fewer characters, limited time frames and minimal events, yet capable of holding the audience with curiosity and emotional engagement," he said.

Nipin noted that Kaathirippu was conceived as a collective effort.
"This was not about launching myself as a filmmaker. It was about a group of us coming together to make a film within our limitations and presenting it before an audience. For us, IFFK was the best possible platform — not just in Kerala, but nationally and internationally," he said.

The director, a regular IFFK attendee for over a decade, described the festival as an emotional space for cinephiles. "Watching your own film in a packed theatre at IFFK... that experience itself felt complete. The selection alone made us happy," he added.

The film's production process was marked by several challenges, particularly in finding a suitable location. They found the house, which functions almost as a character in the film, after weeks of searching across Kochi.

"The house we finally found had been locked and unused for nearly a year. There was no proper electricity or water, and the interiors were in poor condition. We cleaned it ourselves for the shooting," Nipin said.

The workshop where David repairs electronics was built using scrap materials sourced from warehouses and scrap shops across Kochi. The team transported, assembled and arranged the props themselves.

Originally planned as a six-day shoot, the schedule eventually stretched to nearly 10 days to accommodate long takes and performance-driven scenes. While the team initially aimed to complete the film on a shoestring budget, additional costs arose during production and post-production, including camera rentals, hard drives, sound mixing and colour grading.

"None of us were paid for our work. Whether it was direction, acting, writing or cinematography. The money went only into essentials. What kept us going was the shared belief that this was our film," Nipin said.

Kaathirippu's cinematographer Adharsh G Krishnan said the project offered a great opportunity. "When Nipin approached us, we were excited about the chance to work on a feature-length film so early. Most of the crew were friends or batchmates (at KRNNIVSA), and everyone supported the project wholeheartedly," he said.

The team chose to shoot the film in a 3:2 aspect ratio using a Blackmagic 6K camera, a relatively new model at the time and rarely used in Kerala.
"The script demanded intimacy and confinement. The 3:2 open-gate format helped us achieve that visual language while pushing the image quality despite budget constraints," Adharsh explained.

Shooting a night-based story inside a single location posed additional challenges, especially given time and budget limitations.
"Ideally, a film like this needs 15 full night shoots. But we had to combine day and night shoots and rely on our film-school training to manage lighting and continuity," he said.