Enter your favorite writer’s creative space with the phone and then walk out a few hours later with material for a documentary. Author Murali Krishnan S keeps it so simple writer’s roomA spontaneous piece that throws light on the life of renowned Malayalam writer and screenwriter GR Indugopan.
Humor runs through the 34-minute documentary, which begins with Murali, who is behind the camera the entire time, entering Indugopan’s room in his home in Perukkada, Thiruvananthapuram.
“I have misused the privilege of knowing him over the years to do something different,” says Murali, adding, “I wanted to break the traditional format of a documentary or interview to engage the audience.” “This is necessary at a time when our attention spans are shrinking,” says Murali. “The work also takes a dig at our age-old habit of prying into the lives of other people. I have captured the personal space of a person with a camera. By infiltrating you have done exactly that, which is more dangerous than a gun these days!”
GR Indugopan in Documentary writer’s room
Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The aim, says Murali, was also to give aspiring filmmakers and writers a glimpse into his mind and creative process. Indugopan, journalist-turned-author and recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (2024) for his book, Come, He has written more than 15 novels, several novellas, short story collections and travelogues.
His works have also been adapted into films in Malayalam – Wolf, Oru Thekkan Thallu Case, Kappa, Poneman And upcoming Prithviraj-film vilayatha buddhaHe has written the scripts of some of these films and has also directed one film, Ottakkayyan,
Murali sets the mood for the documentary when the camera, read an iPhone, captures the mess in the writer’s room – books piled high, handwritten notes hung on clothes lines with clips, a printer covered in dust… and his entry haunts Indugopan. “All I told him was to act a little stoic in the beginning,” says Murali. “It wasn’t acting because he can’t do that. He’s someone who refuses to be in the limelight. Apart from planning the chronology of the scenes, everything happened organically, as a process of give and take. The best part is that he was extremely honest.”
Murali Krishnan S | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The blunt questions, some of them silly, and Indugopan’s tit-for-tat answers have created some laugh-out-loud moments. Amidst this, Murali also extracts information about the author’s approach to writing, which is refreshingly insightful and clear, as well as impressive.
For example, he says: “I prefer writing books to films, but it is (writing for) cinema that gives me the money to continue as a writer. All said and done, writing is a kind of torture. But if you ask why I keep doing it, the answer is that I don’t know anything else.” It’s interesting to hear how he arrived at some of the stories [for example, the book Chennaya, which became the movie, Wolf] and include his comments on many aspects Indian clothes (Lungi) He had bought it from Sri Lanka.
The section on his habit of going on unplanned train trips as a creative exercise is enlightening. Such travels have given him stories. He also completes articles during these trips, especially when he has to meet a deadline. “I have seen him sitting on the upper berth in the compartment and writing a composition,” says Murali. “It’s a misconception that you need solitude to write. I can switch off even amidst noise,” quips Indugopan.
The documentary also brings out another side of him when he talks about his love for his home, garden, chess, cricket etc. “A game (of chess) takes its course, so do my stories. I don’t like to create a structure; the characters dictate the story. Besides, I don’t feel like I’m doing anything extraordinary. It’s a normal job and writing doesn’t become sacred just because you add imagination to it.” He adds, “Art is unpredictable and imperfections are what make art. And no art is above criticism.”
GR Indugopan in Documentary writer’s room
Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A touching moment is when he talks about the cashew trees in his backyard (“creating shade is the most important thing, it will help someone”), which he links to his childhood spent at his home in Kollam. “I get the raw material for writing since childhood,” he says. The author also talks with great interest about stories from the region, especially the research that went into the book. Nalanchu Cheruppakkarwhich was adapted into a film, Poneman,
Murali emphasizes that Indugopan has been like a guru to him. “He wrote the introduction to my first book, Soviet station KadavuSometimes I meet him for 10-15 minutes at his house to refresh myself,” says Murali, an engineer who left his job in Dubai to pursue his passion for cinema,
He is a photographer and he is one of the four screenwriters Transferee SrikuttanA film that brought a revolution in schools earlier this year. He has made some short films, one of them is stockholmWhich was one of the 10 films selected for Netflix’s Take Ten competition for emerging filmmakers. Comedy has been his comfort zone and the youngster is still waiting for his big break in the industry.
Murali Krishnan S with GR Indugopan, actor Anand Manmadhan and his crew, Anoop V Shailja, Saran GD and Rishipriyan. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
writer’s room The shooting lasted for more than three hours. The DOP is Anoop V Shailaja, editing is by Kailash S Bhavan and music is by Pavi Shankar. Anand Manmadhan, who plays the lead role PonemanMakes a cameo appearance.
What did Indugopan say about the documentary? “It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be”.
The Writer’s Room is streaming on Q Studio’s YouTube channel.
published – November 12, 2025 12:11 pm IST