When the trailer for Digger dropped, audiences couldn’t stop talking about Tom Cruise’s startling transformation. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s casting choices and the film’s striking characters quickly became a talking point. But amid the frenzy, another filmmaker unexpectedly found himself in the spotlight—three-time National Award-winning Malayalam director Bijukumar Damodaran, better known as Dr. Biju.
Event Context
Dr Biju shared an email that Iñárritu wrote to him back in 2018, asking Biju to recommend “an Indian actor between 40-60 years old” who had a “real face” and not “actor face.”
For many, it was a fascinating glimpse into Iñárritu’s casting philosophy. For Dr. Biju, it was also a reminder of a friendship that began years before that email arrived.
They both go back a long time. Yet, he was surprised by the email because until then the email exchanges had been casual, but this time the filmmaker known for Babel, The Bridman and other acclaimed films, “wanted my professional opinion on casting for his film”.
“Back in 2011, I had gone to showcase my film Veetilekkulla Vazhi (The Way Home, which won him a National Award) at the Telluride Film Festival. That’s where he had come to just watch films and learn more about filmmaking and films made in various languages and in different parts of the world. That has stayed with me! You know that’s what makes him great. We go when either we are on the jury or our film is participating; he was there just to learn and observe! He had come with his daughter,” recalls the Malayalam filmmaker.
As chance would have it, the two found themselves standing in the same queue for a screening. Neither managed to get a seat.
“Which was actually great because later we both got talking. He asked me about Malayalam cinema and the kind of films I was making. At that point, I had directed only three films, while he was already internationally celebrated. He offered to continue the conversation over coffee,” he shares.
“I had returned to my village in Kerala from Toronto to pursue higher studies in Homeopathy. Around that time, there was a film festival happening nearby. I watched incredible films from around the world about politics, real-world problems, arts, and walked out thinking, I want to make films. Everything I learnt came from watching cinema and figuring it out while making films,” says Biju, known for films with a deeply humane gaze and real-world issues.
Some of these films are Perariyathavar (The Names Unknown, 2014), Adrishya Jalakangal (Invisible Windows, 2023), Valiya Chirakulla Pakshikal (Birds With Large Wings, 2015) and Veyilmarangal (Trees Under The Sun, 2019).
Match Outlook
“We spent more than two hours discussing films; he wanted to know more about Indian cinema. He had not seen any films then, but knew there were many languages in the country. He was surprised to learn that the Malayalam film industry alone was producing 200 films a year! Later, he asked for the DVD of my film. And that’s how our association started,” shares Dr Biju from Papua New Guinea, where he is scouting locations for his next film.
The conversations continued over the years through emails. Then, in 2018, came the message that has resurfaced today.
“He wrote asking if I could recommend an Indian actor. I suggested a few names. Later, he connected me with the casting agency working on the film. And then COVID happened,” says a homeopathic doctor who balances an equally demanding career as district Medical Officer in Kerala with filmmaking and writing.
Ironically, one of Iñárritu’s earliest questions to him had little to do with cinema.
“Just like you,” he smiles, “he wanted to know how I became a filmmaker while also being a doctor.” The answer is as unconventional as his career.
Speaking from Papua New Guinea, where he is scouting locations for his next film, Dr Biju laughs that he has only briefly returned to an area with network coverage.
“The first thing I’m going to do after this call is watch the trailer of Digger and write to Alejandro.”
He pauses, returning to the memory of the first meeting with the Oscar-winning filmmaker at Telluride.
“What struck me most wasn’t that he was already a world-famous filmmaker,” he says. “It was his simplicity. His curiosity. His genuine hunger to keep learning about cinema. That’s very rare. That’s what makes him legendary,” says Dr Biju who is himself known for his simplicity and thought-provoking cinema.
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s email to Dr Biju Biju reads, “Hello Biju, This is Alejandro. I hope this mail finds you well and your projects are coming together as you want. I would like to ask you, who is in your mind the best Indian actor, from 40 to 60 years? I do not mind if he is famous or not. I just want a real face, ( not actor face ) that can be endearing and at the same time if he turns serious you will listen to him and if he wants to make you laugh, he could… I know is to ask a lot but I am looking for a good Indian actor and the ones I have been send are to soft and do not look like real people. Can you send me a list of your favorite names? Please have this very confidential. Just between you and me. Thank you in advance and receive a big hug. Alejandro G Inarritu.”
Digger is scheduled for release on October 2. Tom Cruise, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons star in it
