From lapel mics to living sound: How Sachin Jose crafted the world of national award winner ‘Feminichi Fathima’

For most viewers of ‘Feminichi Fathima’, the creaking ceiling fan is just another detail in a film celebrated for its quiet realism. But for sound designer Sachin Jose, that fan was never just background noise, it was a character in itself.
‘Feminichi Fathima’, which recently bagged the National Film Award for Best Malayalam Film, has been widely praised for its understated storytelling and natural performances. Yet, little is known about the painstaking sound design that helped bring its world to life.

Sachin Jose, who designed the film's sound, says one of the biggest challenges began after shooting was wrapped up. Made on a shoestring budget, the film, directed by Fasil Muhammed, relied primarily on lapel microphones during production, leaving the team with audio that was quite difficult to use.
"I had previously worked with director Fasil Muhammed on the short film Tuition Veedu. When he approached me for Feminichi Fathima, he told me it would be a small film. But I loved the concept and the honesty of the story, so I immediately wanted to be a part of it," Sachin says.

That enthusiasm was soon met with technical hurdles. "Even when I first received the dialogue tracks, they weren't very audible. Most of the ambient sounds that create the atmosphere of the film had also not been captured properly. But I believed in the film and knew we had to do everything possible to improve the sound without losing its natural feel."

Although the dialogues were eventually dubbed, Sachin was determined that audiences should never feel they were listening to a conventionally dubbed film.
"I wanted viewers to believe the film had been shot entirely with sync sound. I spent a lot of time working on the reverb, room tone, and ambience for every dialogue. I wanted it to sound the way audio is naturally captured in real life, not polished, but authentic."

For that, he turned to films like ‘Premam’ and ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’ as references, studying how their soundscapes felt lived in, rather than manufactured. Along with Vinay John and Aaromal Vaikom, Sachin painstakingly recreated the film's sonic world from scratch. Every wave crashing along the seashore, every murmur drifting from neighbouring houses, and every subtle environmental sound were recorded separately in post-production.

But one sound demanded more attention than any other, the creaking ceiling fan. The fan is woven into the emotional fabric of ‘Feminichi Fathima’. It quietly underscores the gendered labour at the heart of the story. In one memorable scene, Ustad Ashraf (played by Kumar Sunil) stretches his hand towards the fan switch. He is close enough to reach it if he makes the slightest effort, yet instead chooses to call his already overworked wife to switch it on for him. The moment lasts only seconds, but it speaks volumes about the invisible burdens women shoulder every day.

"The fan was almost like another character in the film," Sachin says. "Its sound had to be treated with great care because it carries the emotional weight of several scenes. We couldn't simply use a stock fan sound. We worked on it until it felt like it truly belonged in that house."
Ironically, Sachin believes films like ‘Feminichi Fathima’ pose far greater challenges for sound designers than large-scale commercial productions. "People often assume sound design awards are meant for big-budget films. In reality, smaller films are much harder. When there's a lot of background music, it can mask imperfections and make mixing easier. Here, there is very little music. Every natural sound, every ambience, every silence becomes important. You have to make those sounds carry the emotion."

He credits director Fasil Muhammed for trusting the sound team completely throughout the process. "Fasil gave us complete freedom to do what we felt the film needed. That trust made a huge difference."
Originally envisioned only as a festival film, ‘Feminichi Fathima’ eventually found a theatrical release, prompting Sachin to revisit and further refine the soundtrack before audiences experienced it on the big screen. "Even today, if you give me the film, I think I can still make more corrections," he says with a smile. "That's the nature of sound design—you always feel there's something more you can improve. But I'm incredibly grateful to have been part of something that has gone on to receive this kind of recognition."
Sachin Jose, who completed his graduation in Economics, later completed his post-graduation in sound engineering, and started off as a dubbing engineer with Shaji Kailas’s film ‘Kaduva’. He is part of a few films and an international documentary, which are yet to release.
(Feminichi Fathima is currently streaming on Manorama Max)