Filmmaker-Balaram J on his recent animation movie, ‘Oru Thudakkathinte Kadha’

The Malayalam short film discusses the issues of religious intolerance and the importance of people living in harmony

Two decades ago, Balaram J fell in love with cinema after watching films of James Cameron. “I remember being awestruck by Titanic and Avatar. That is how I started to dream of being a filmmaker,” he recalls. Now 24 years old, Balaram has recently released Oru Thudakkathinte Kadha, a Malayalam short animation film on YouTube. The movie is inspired by his own experience of searching for the origin of a stream with his friend at his village called Onakkoor in Ernakulam. “I have a vivid memory of it. It was a summer evening and we walked for a while till we reached a small pond from where it started. Our joy knew no bound at that discovery and we lay down beside the pond looking at the sky for a while,” he recalls.