The scent of a murder

KOCHI: Scents have a certain unexplainable power. The redolence of a book and its musty pages can summon emotions nestled away in a corner of one's mind. The aroma of curries and spices reminds one of home. The whiff of a familiar fragrance sends one into a spiral of precious memories. And yet, all the movies made on 'Perfume', deal with gruesome murders, with the murderer being a perfume-maker or associated with essential oils and scents. 

Director Subin Sudhakaran's debut short film 'Perfume' which released on February 2 has also abided by the unsaid rule. It follows a perfume-maker Roshan Philips, played by Shereej Basheer, who is suspected of murdering his wife. Roshan has discovered that his wife, Merlin (played by Sadhika Venugopal) is pregnant. What's worse, the baby is not his. What follows next is the psychological turn of events as the protagonist goes on a killing spree - he is a man who follows his nose. 

Subin stresses that his movie has no message, rather focuses on the technicality, wanting to make a visually-rich movie. This should come as no surprise as the director has his roots in graphic design. 
"We wanted to create visuals and ambiguous dialogues which we hoped, would translate into a fully-fledged script onscreen. However, it depends on perception. I received both, positive and negative feedback. Some could not understand the gist of the film. Those who did, appreciated it. We wanted to create a different kind of short film," says Subin. 

Subin has been in the industry for a while. Having worked in the Prithviraj-starrer '7th Day', and a slew of other movies, Subin is indeed familiar with the nuances of film-making. He currently works as an art teacher and is involved with two other movies, other than his next short film.
Shot in Paravur and Dubai, the technicians behind the movie have a solid background in the film industry too, thereby adding to the film. 

The short film 'Perfume' also include actors Tini Tom, Nandhan Unni, Moydeen Koya, and Sreeja. Produced by Ajith and Vipin Sudhakaran under Yoshika Productions, the script was penned by Prajeesh. 
Rajesh helmed the camera whilst Shaheen took over for the scenes shot in Dubai. Sooraj S Kurup composed the background score which adds to the overall mysterious undertone of the film. Noufal Ahmed edited the crisp short film.