Dubai based Kris Iyer set to direct Tamil film

It is not always that one gets to interview over 600 key and influential figures from film, music and literature during one’s professional career. Nor is it common to have to one’s credit over 15,000 hours on-air as an RJ doing programmes in three languages.

Kris Iyer, however, is more than the clout he has earned as a senior radio presenter, programme producer and head of programming. A media consultant based in Dubai, he wears several hats effortlessly, the latest being his entry into films.

Having debuted in director Rajasenan’s Radio Jockey last year, he will be seen in the much-awaited Mammootty film Munnariyippu, directed by ace cinematographer Venu.

“I wouldn’t say my role is big, but it is a significant one, where I portray a publisher,” says Kris. Bigger things are however readying in the backdrop as he plans to direct a movie in Tamil, with the script completed and the producer and lead actor nearing finalisation.

Kris is at the vanguard of a silent creative movement that is now taking shape in the UAE, with a number of expatriate Keralites being actively involved in cinema. With Dubai evolving as a preferred hub for movie production, new talents are bursting into the scene donning various roles – as actor, writer, cinematographers, editors and directors.

The world of films is not new to Kris. He has already scripted and directed two short films – The Letters and The Mind – both tackling social issues. While the first is about the pain of orphans, the second deals with how impressionable little minds are impacted by parental disputes.

“To me, short films are an ideal medium to communicate powerful messages to the community,” says Kris. “If a day comes when short films will be screened ahead of mainstream films at the theatre halls, it will jumpstart the short film segment, encouraging more talent to step forward.”

For his feature film directorial debut, Kris is focusing on an ‘experimental-commercial’ genre, and he is making the film in Tamil. “Why Tamil? For one, it is my mother-tongue. But on a more serious note, I feel that Tamil cinema provides more space for ‘experimental-commercial’ films, which also find box-office success.”

Kris has a creative identity outside of radio and cinema too. He is an accomplished painter – his favourite medium being acrylic, “which enables me to go with the flow, step forward and backward as intuition goes.” He has been a model and web designer, comperes live events and a popular TV show. Kris is now also a voice coach, enabling young talent to discover the intricacies of voice modulation.

All of these are apart from his professional qualification as a civil engineer and a chartered environmentalist, with a post graduate diploma in environmental protection management.

Kris has proved his acting chops already with a number of television serials, and returning to Malayalam cinema was therefore a refresher in acting for him. “In the cast and crew of both films I worked in, there were a lot of familiar faces. It was home-coming of sorts,” he says.

Kris says the Malayalam film industry welcomes expat talent with an open mind. “For me personally, working on the two films presented the opportunity to be associated with some of the most accomplished cast and crew, as well as the newest generation of talent.”

“There is a certain challenge integral to any creative art form you undertake,” says Kris. “It is therefore difficult to say which is closest to my heart. But films are a passion as is painting. One of my personal favourites is also to share the experience from my radio days to voice-train young talent.”

Drawing on a rich family legacy of active involvement in the arts, Kris is breezing through a creative high now. With his towering personality as a distinctive asset, the release of Munnariyippu and his directorial debut could mark a new chapter for Kris in the film industry.