EDITOR VJ SABU JOSEPH INTERVIEW

I would like to dedicate this award to team Vallinam, starting with director Arivazhagan for his different vision and producer Aascar Ravi sir for having full belief in the director. Also DoP Bhaskar came up with such good visuals despite harsh weather conditions. All of them played a big part.
 

My family stood by my side and supported me all along. And I believe my 8 months old daughter Tanya is my good luck charm as the long-delayed film finally released and also got me my first award, only after her birth.
 

My wife is also an editor and we both have a lot of discussions and arguments about films. She is my first critic and is very frank in her opinions. Of course, Almighty God is the reason for all of this.

I also wish to say sorry to my friends. They have helped me a lot but after I got busy in cinema, I couldn’t participate in their lives’ happy moments.

I am from an orthodox Christian family which didn’t have anything to do with cinema. I did visual communication as I wanted to do something different. My family then supported my decision to get into cinema and learn editing. It was 2002 and that was the time when editing was transitioning from manual to digital. I got to learn manual editing too, from Udhay Shankar an acclaimed editor. His associate, Ravichandran, helped me a lot.
 

I then joined Sathish and Harsha, the editors of Autograph and Thiruda Thirudi, through Ravichandran sir. I worked as an apprentice in Autograph and gained valuable experience.

I then got the opportunity to work with Anthony sir in movies like Manmadhan and Four the People. The Kannada movie ‘My Autograph’ starring Sudeep was also part of my learning curve.

Pallikoodam and Satham Podadhey were two other important films in my learning period as I got to work with master directors, Thankar Bachan and Vasanth. I learnt about a lot of aspects from both of them and started believing that I could venture out on my own as an editor.

Aanmai Thavarael was my first film as an individual editor and it got good critical acclaim. Before this film, I also got the opportunity to work on the trailer of Arivazhagan’s Eeram, which was even appreciated by Rajini sir during the music launch function when he was discussing with Shankar sir. The Eeram trailer was the biggest break in my life and it gave me great belief that I could also make it as an editor in the industry. This was an important stepping stone for me to get the Vallinam offer which was the second film which I committed to.

Today I am working on 4 to 5 films and they are all the result of my work and experience in Vallinam. They are Yagavarayinum Na Kaaka, Vennila Veedu, Thamizhukku Yen Ondrai Azhuthavum, Naalu Policeum Nalla Irundha Oorum and Lakshmi Ramakrishnan’s Nerungivaa Muthamidadhe. All these films are different from each other and have given me valuable experiences.

Needless song and dance sequences and separate comedy tracks should be avoided. Nothing should disturb the flow of a film. If the script and story dictate certain elements, then they should definitely be there in the film. But when factors are added needlessly in the name of commercial packaging, audiences get disturbed and lose interest in the film. Nowadays, most of our films don’t have needless elements and it is a good sign. 

Audiences don’t have a long attention span now and it is important for us to deliver a film in a short and sweet manner. Gone are the days when 3 hour films used to hook the audience. They come to the theater, putting aside all their worries, and we shouldn’t be imposing our thoughts and feelings on an already stressed audience. But even now, if the film strikes an emotional chord with the audience and has a good story, then the length doesn’t matter.