"Renunciation angle was inspired by couple of people we knew" says Manu Warrier of Coffee Bloom

Manu Warrier 

Mumbai based filmmaker Manu Warrier’s Coffee Bloom has been selected in the "New Faces of India" section of the 16th Mumbai Film Festival (MFF). Vinamra Mathur of MFF spoke to him to know more about the film, its unique title and its coffee connection.We republish the same from MFF.

Coffee Bloom is quite a unique title. In the context of the film, what does it signify?

The title is a metaphor in the context of the film. In a general sense, most of the drama in the film revolves around a coffee plantation. The title was suggested by our producer Harish Amin.

You are not formally trained as a filmmaker. When and how did you decide to jump into film making?

I was pursuing my MBA in the USA where I had access to good libraries with lots of reading material on film making. Since it has been my passion, I naturally soaked in the material. I attempted a short film while completing my MBA and it received some good responses. While working in a corporate job, I met Sharath Parvathavani, the co writer of Coffee Bloom, with whom I made another short film. In 2005, I shifted to India and actively started pursuing a career in film making. The jump purely happened, thanks to my wife Meera, who encouraged me to pursue it more seriously.

To begin with, the film narrates the tale of a man who sells his coffee estate as a renunciation of the world. What was the trigger point for the story?

A still from the film 'Coffee Bloom'

We worked a lot on the plot and the first draft was very different compared to what the film is now. The renunciation angle was inspired by couple of people both Sharath and I knew - people who doled out advice to others while their own lives were in a big mess. We thought such a character was interesting to pursue and the story naturally evolved.

Since you are also from Kerala, was the subject and the context of the coffee quite natural, or you had to do research?

I am a Mumbaikar by heart with roots in Kerala. I have no connection to coffee except that I love drinking filter coffee. Once we had a basic outline of the plot, we started researching various crops and plantations to see if something could fit our plot. Our search led us to Elephant Corridor, Coorg, where the owners of the plantation - the Chengappas - helped us in researching the topic extensively.

At the MFF, what other films are you most excited about?

I am curious to watch Boyhood, Court, Killa, Corn Island and Fury.