Interview | Malayalam filmmaker-writer Shahi Kabir on his new cop drama, ‘Ronth’

Shahi Kabir's sophomore movie Ronth delves into the lives of two police officers who are out on night patrol

Shahi Kabir has done what he does best again — tapping into his life as a former police officer and weaving hard-hitting narratives. The recent one being Ronth, his sophomore movie as director.

A slow-burner, the story zooms into the life of two police officers, Yohannan (Dileesh Pothan) and Dinanath (Roshan Mathew), who are out on night patrol with Dinanath at the wheel, ahead of Christmas. There is a simmering tension between the two. Dinanath is an idealistic rookie while Yohannan is pragmatic and hardened by experience. As they deal with multiple cases that night, some of which leave them distraught and traumatised, they eventually strike a bond. By the time their shift ends, they are caught in a trap, leading to an inevitable climax.

Shahi says several incidents shown in the film have either happened to him or other police officers that he knows, with ample layers of fiction added to the storyline. “I have done night patrolling on many occasions in my career. Also, there are shades of my character in Roshan, especially fear, apprehension, and anxiety. Yohannan has the traits of many senior officers whom I have worked with and about whom I’ve heard of from fellow cops.”

Having written or directed four cop dramas till now — Joseph(writer), Nayattu(writer), Ela Veezha Poonchira(director) and Officer on Duty (writer), Shahi admits that the subject is his comfort zone for the time being. “Even though I look forward to write a different genre, the industry expects cop stories from me.” He resigned from police force a few months ago after 13 years of service. “I was on leave for five years. With more opportunities coming in it was difficult to balance both. So I put in my papers.”

Ronth is his first film as a director and scriptwriter. His directorial debut, Ela Veezha Poonchira, was written by fellow police officers, Nidheesh G and Shaji Maraad. “It was tough being a writer and director at the same time. If it was another person’s story he would have been around to point out inconsistencies or remind me of things. Handling both roles was difficult, especially because a significant portion of the film happens at night. We had 36 days of night shoot at Iritty (in Kannur district) and some 10 to 15 kilometres around it. That was stressful enough. I wished there was a writer with me to share the load.”

Shahi points out that night shoots were equally challenging for cinematographer Manesh Madhavan, who has worked with him in Joseph and Ela Veezha Poonchira. “It couldn’t be too raw. Also, lights had to be just right. He had to find a balance between being realistic and cinematic.”

Shooting the movie in sync sound added to the difficulties. “There were so many practical challenges, with so much noise around. The sound team (Sinoy Joseph, who did sound mixing, and Arun Asok and Sonu KP, who handled sync sound and sound design) worked so hard on this to give the best output.”