Filmmaking is an arduous process. It is mostly characterized by long hours of shooting in often difficult conditions, working with multiple groups of people who are all expected to work towards a common vision set forth by a writer, director and producer. There is a lot of behind the scenes effort that goes into finally bring a movie to the audience and oftentimes, we are not privy to the minute details that go into the creative, yet often cumbersome process of bringing a creative work of art to screen. Dark Rain Entertainment has been doing just that for the last 15 years and they are far from getting tired.
Dark Rain Entertainment channelled their love for movie making into a reality in 2006 when they produced their first feature film, Happy Birthday, a movie paying homage to the kind of suspense defined in the David Fincher direction, The Game. Directed by the versatile Moomin Fuwad, Happy Birthday was a unique take on the extent of what desperation, or perceived desperation to be more specific, can do to an ordinary person on any given day. Although it turned out to be a commercial failure, the movie was lauded by critics and bagged several key awards at the Maldivian Film Awards a few years later.
Dark Rain Entertainment or DRE for short is helmed by the visionary producer couple Mohamed Ali (Moger) and his wife, Aishath Fuwad, who also happens to be one of the most prolific screen writers in the country. According to Moger, after the commercial failure of Happy Birthday, he wanted to venture into more mainstream movie making which then led to the production of 'Dhin Veynuge Hithaamaigaa', a more mainstream love story around the complexities of relationships.
While this and subsequent mainstream tear jerkers put DRE on the map of regular moviegoers, Moger was not content with just playing it to the audience. Driven by the combined visions of both Moger and Aishath, they were determined to not just create, but also be creative in their productions.
This led to the production of 'Hulhudhan', the first directorial debut of Aishath Fuwad, who also wrote the screenplay. It was hailed as one of the most poignant explorations of old age, inability to accept the passage of time and the complicated relationship that exists between a father and daughter. Critics loved it and immediately heralded the arrival of Aishath Fuwad as a serious director to watch out for and DRE as a film company out to change the mould of Maldivian filmmaking. Hulhudhan also had the privilege of being screened at the Venice Film Festival.
Dark Rain Entertainment is also a company of innovations and firsts. In 2013, they released the first ever 3D movie in Maldives. 'Fathishandhuvaruge Feshun', an origin story of the Maldivian classic 'Fathis Handhuvaru', took a mammoth effort to make. Since Maldives was still very much in its infancy of filmmaking and since sophisticated filmmaking equipment were in short supply, DRE had to modify technology to bring an unforgettable 3D experience to the moviegoers. They started, failed and started again and never gave up.
‘Giving up has never been an option for us’ claimed Moger. ‘When we started the movie we went all in. Both the director Ali Shifau and the technical team led by Ahmed Shinan, knew that no matter how long it took, we needed to bring this to the screen and we needed to keep on trying, no matter how many times we failed,' said Moger.
According to Moger, although the 3D feature was a key selling point, their real pièce de résistance was the reimagining of the modern classic using the most creative minds around. That has always been their motto - To create new and fresh ideas and concepts that will create an unshakable bond between the company and their audience.
In 2015, DRE ventured into making a new breed of Maldivian cinema that, while mainstream in content, was also both technically and aesthetically different to what was then being produced. 'Emme Fahu Vindhaa Jehendhen', a reimagining of Eric Segal’s timeless classic, Love Story, was helmed by Ali Shifau, who had by then become part of DRE with his merit being displayed in several of the previous DRE ventures. Moviegoers flocked the cinema like never before to catch a glimpse of this new age style of moviemaking that both enthralled and satisfied them into accepting that Maldives, with movies like "Hulhudhan", "Fathishandhuvaruge Feshun" and now this, was well and truly being lifted to an international level of stylized filmmaking.
DRE has continued this tradition of raising the bar of Maldivian cinema to new heights with their subsequent movies like 'Vaashey Mashaa Ekee', 'Mee Loaibakee' and 'Vakin Loabin'. They even ventured into one of the hardest styles of movie making by producing the irreverent comic classic Maamui, which also included the biggest ensemble of characters in a DRE movie. Similarly, they also delved into the completely new genre of crime thriller with "Goh Raalhu".
DRE is not just about movie making alone, according to Moger. He believes that DRE is also about showcasing creative young and fresh talent and providing them with a platform to demonstrate their talent to the public. DRE has been instrumental in bringing the visionary writing and directing of Aishath Fuwad to the screen while they have also given the creative space to directors like Ali Shifau, Ahmed Shinan and Moomin Fuwad. In addition they have also launched several new comers to acting who now remain as stalwarts of Maldivian cinema.
It has been 15 long years for DRE, tirelessly adding and enriching the Maldivian film repertoire. They have done everything from 3D to comedy to horror to classic arthouse. What lies ahead though?
Moger believes that with the COVID 19 pandemic, DRE too has been forced to slow down the speed of work. But there is also an important point that he makes.
‘For the last 15 years, we have survived on our own, but at the same time carried the image of Maldives as a country churning out good movies without much support from the government. We have continued to bring people to the only cinema even while the condition was abysmal. But today, we are completely crippled by the pandemic and the only avenue to sell our products is the OTT platform. But that too, is dominated by a few large companies that only buy our products at rates that cannot sustain our work. The prices are determined by the distributors and we have zero say in it. Even Dark Rain Entertainment, a relatively large movie making business, is but a mere shell of what it used to be in terms of our financial viability. Yet, we continue producing web series so that we can continue to keep our directors, writers, actors and technical crew employed. There is no support from relevant government ministries tasked with improving the arts. We cannot go on for much longer if our value an worth is simply in the hands of big OTT providers. We need the government to recognize and acknowledge art and moviemaking as an important national enterprise. Else, we wouldn’t be able to go on for another 15 years.’
Today, DRE is still trying to persevere against all odds and their web series production continues despite the financial difficulties that them and all other film companies are being put under. Looking at their upcoming line-up, I still feel optimistic. I, for one, cannot accept that DRE, the one company that has singlehandedly changed so much about the Maldivian film industry would be willing to go down without a fight. Not just because they are creative and resilient but also because they love the art of moviemaking too much to let it go to waste.
