The Mumbai Film Festival has been churning out some of the most amazing independent films, one of which is Sudhish Kamath’s Good Night | Good Morning. Talking about the film, the director went on to tell BollySpice, “A friend of mine, Krishna, bought a HD camera and said, “Let’s make a movie”. After my experience making an ensemble film with parallel narratives with a low budget (“That Four Letter Word”), I told him we can’t make a movie without money, unless the script itself organically does not require a budget. With no money, you can only make a film with two people talking over the phone.” The film pays homage to the director’s favorite Hollywood filmmaker, Cameron Crowe. “I am now planning to hunt him down in LA, heading there next, and show him the film. I hope he likes it. This is like the Guru Dakshina to the man I learnt a lot from,” he explains.
The film follows a single night phone call between two strangers who meet on New Year’s Eve. “But the story really is about romance and truth. And the truth is that there’s no truth other than we are all companions for a while, or a longer while. You could interpret this in the most romantic sense or the most cynical sense,” Kamath further explains. And while it does take place in New York, only the outdoor scenes were shot in the Big Apple; the indoor scenes were all shot in India.
Good Night | Good Morning has been received with great accolades as it premiered at the Mumbai Film Festival. “We got a full house and people clapped at the end. I was surprised we got a full house for a phone call film. But Mumbai is a city where there’s no dearth of movie buffs. I am not sure we will get a full house in New York,” he honestly says. The director went on to further explain, “It’s an offbeat film. We need to get people to watch it and talk about it before we can expect distributors to be excited. It’s about an all night phone call.” He understands that a film about a single phone call may not be as appealing as a commercially viable film. “The entire film is just a phone call. Who will pay to eavesdrop into a phone call? Not me. Unless some critic I really trust tells me why I should watch it. Given that we don’t have budgets, we are just waiting for some really smart reputed film critic to discover us and write about the film.”
As for what audiences will take away from the film, “just want people to believe in the magic of life. All it takes is a moment to stop doing something. But all it takes is a moment to start doing something as well. The most important part of any relationship is how the previous one ends or is laid to rest. The film is about letting go of the past and embracing the present,” he explains. In the future, Sudhish is hoping to make a spoof satire film. “After Good night, I want to make a really silly, asinine film, a spoof on assembly line Hollywood. Have the script ready for six years. Will probably shoot it next year. Also my TV and radio commitments will keep me busy for a bit. And I need to promote this film and make sure I recover the money spent,” he signs off.
