Don Palathara

In an era of big-budget films, some noted directors who know how to pave their path, Don Palathara is one among the rare film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker who is known for his exceptional and much daring way of making films by working with inexperienced actors on a shoestring budget. Don was born and brought up in a Christian middle-class family of Kerala.

Still, soon he migrated to Sydney and did his diploma from Academy of Film, Theatre, and Television from there itself. Mr. Palathara’s work includes short films and documentaries. In 2015, his debut film “Shavam” was released, which was entirely in black and white and very well received by the local crowd and also in the International film festival, which is now available on Netflix.

His second film, “Vith” was written, directed, produced, and edited by don, it hit the box-office in 2017, and he financed the film through crowdfunding platforms. This film portrays the two characters of the son and a father and their approach towards life. Don’s third film is a period movie “1956, Central Travancore”, it has been one of the two only Malayalam film selected for “Film Bazaar.”

The story as inspired by his grandfather narration of life back in the 1950s, it is a 94 minutes black and white movie and completed at a very minimal budget of 1.5 lakh and is written, directed and edited by Mr. Palathara, the film depicts the lives of the people who had migrated to Idukki and revolved around two characters Onan and Kora and how their lives turned out to be when they had near interaction with nature, distanced from their family.

All three movies of Mr. Palathara were in black and white because, according to him, the grayscale images give freedom of imagination and focus to the viewer. Don is among those filmmakers who justifies his caliber that the quality and success of the film does not rely on the amount of money invested