Bethlehem Kudumba Unit DoP Ajmal Sabu: I don’t see myself switching between editing and cinematography

Bethlehem Kudumba Unit (BKU) is on its way to becoming the highest-grossing Malayalam film worldwide, and much of the conversation around it has centred on cinematographer Ajmal Sabu’s visuals. Trained in Animation and Visual Effects, Ajmal developed a strong grasp of filmmaking's technical aspects before moving into cinematography. He first made a name for himself cutting trailers on YouTube, which eventually caught veteran filmmaker Lal Jose’s attention and led to wielding the camera of Meow and Solomante Theneechakal.

Premalu followed, along with his collaboration with Girish AD, which has now produced two of Malayalam’s most distinctive-looking films in recent years. Ajmal spoke to us amid BKU's massive success, deep into editing Suriya's next film with Jithu Madhavan, still happiest juggling between the editing table and standing behind a camera.

BKU looks set to become the highest-grossing Malayalam film worldwide. When you read the responses to the visuals, what goes through your mind?

I read almost all the comments I can. I'm very happy people have liked the film, especially the visuals, though it's never just my work.

The film traverses an unusual romance, friendship, family, and an entire locality, quite different in scale from Premalu. How did that shape the visual approach?

Premalu was an urban teenage romance, so we used a lot of handheld and wide-lens shots, with the camera close to the characters. Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has so many more people, houses, and an entire locality, so our first task was establishing that world clearly.

The audience needed to understand the geography in the first 20 to 30 minutes: where the houses are, how the spaces connect, who belongs where. We also needed to know the sunrise and sunset at each location, because I wanted at least one usable shot from natural light every day. For that, I moved to tighter lenses too, alongside the wides.

The colour palette feels very deliberate as well, that cool, wet quality with various shades of green consistently running through it...

The film begins and ends with rain, so we wanted that wet feeling to continue throughout. We used dark olive green, navy blue, and maroon alongside lighter shades like lemon and pastel yellow, but green became the dominant shade through the costumes as much as the lighting.

We created reference colours and shared them with the art and costume departments beforehand. Since we were shooting in real locations, we couldn't control every color, so it was more about avoiding what we didn't want and finding the right tone through lensing and grading.

We were very particular about it. We felt shooting rain in the afternoon would immediately look artificial, whereas evening light feels much closer to the real thing. Girish and I discussed that beforehand, and the whole team worked toward it.

The sequence where the jeep chases the train is probably the film’s biggest technical feat...

We couldn't shoot it exactly as it appears. We waited for real trains to arrive, captured portions with the actors ready, and rigged a camera on a bike to track parallel to the train. Other shots that look like they're inside a moving train were actually shot on a highway with a pickup vehicle, the window added in CG, and the actors shot separately on a train set.

Everyone had doubts while we were combining material shot in such different ways, but now when people ask me how we shot from inside the train, that's actually the best response I can get. It's the shot I'm proudest of, along with the interval sequence near the church in Chalakudy.

The transitions and match cuts in the film are quite striking. Were they planned or developed during the shoot?

Many were decided before the shoot, while some came from decisions made on set. That first transition introducing Justin (Nivin) through Ashley's (Mamitha) guitar strum was planned early on, before we went for the shoot. We felt it would be a lighter yet impactful introduction that would create curiosity.

There are many such transitions throughout the film, which I have tried to incorporate organically. Some of them were in the script, some came to mind when we went to the locations, and a few were the editor’s contribution. At the end of the day, it is the editor’s call on how to integrate all of these into the overall film, and Akash has done a wonderful job of placing them without making anything feel forced.

Nivin Pauly's close-ups and Mamitha Baiju's presence opposite him have both become real talking points...

Nivin chettan's smile was already in the script; our job was to capture it as he performed. We consciously wanted more close-ups in this film, so I used tighter lenses, around 85 to 100mm, and this is the first time I've worked with him. When he performs well within the frame, you get a very balanced shot. And Mamitha has evolved so much since Premalu, too. When we see her expressions in the frame, we don't have to worry about anything else.

Girish is known for underplaying emotion rather than underlining it with movement or slow motion...

Girish likes normal emotions to stay normal; he doesn't like gimmicks for their own sake. He focuses more on the actors; I focus more on the visuals, so the combination works well between us.

There's a short film titled Soulmates that appears in parts within Bethlehem Kudumba Unit and was later released in its entirety on YouTube. Was this always part of the plan?

Not at all. Midway through the shoot, Girish insisted we finish it properly as a short on its own. I shot the portions that appear within the film itself, my associate Sahid shot the rest since I'd moved on to another project by then, and once we wrapped, Girish took it upon himself to complete it.

Your understanding of editing seems to shape how you shoot. How does the editor in you influence the cameraman?

That's probably what I know best. Even while shooting, I think about duration, how long a shot needs to be and how it should move into the next one. I try not to take unnecessary shots or create problems for the editor through my shot division; I try to get the right footage on set itself.

You're editing Scene, Suriya's next film with Jithu Madhavan right now, alongside all this attention on Bethlehem Kudumba Unit. How do you keep switching between the editing table and the camera?

I don't really see it as switching; I've always edited alongside shooting, trailers, music videos, whatever comes along. Jithu liked the trailer I did for Romancham, and when he called about this, he asked if I was interested in editing before even telling me it was a Suriya sir film, and I said yes immediately. Handling a full feature’s timeline is new, but once I knew it was a Suriya sir film, I was even more excited about the process.

After editor, trailer-maker, and cinematographer, what do you ultimately want to be known as?

A good storyteller. Whether I'm behind the camera or at the editing table, I want to tell a story visually. I also plan to direct one day; I've been working on a few subjects for years, and I'm almost done with one. Nothing is officially fixed yet, but I don't want to delay it much longer.