Amos TG on winning the Best Director award at the Kerala State Television Awards for his short film ‘Opponent’

A few years ago, when filmmaker and cinematographer Amos TG was travelling across Arunachal Pradesh, he heard about a boxing match in the State which ended in the death of one of the fighters. The demise of his rival had a deep psychological impact on the boxer, as he tried getting back into the arena. Simultaneously, he struck up a friendship with someone online. What happened next inspired Amos to make Opponent, which won awards for Best Director, Best Editor, Best Music Director and Best Second Actor at the 33rd Kerala State Television Awards announced recently.

“Once I heard the story, I tried to figure out how to set the story in Kerala. We decided to set the film in Kerala and Tamil Nadu,” says Amos, who is based out of Palakkad.

Opponent is a psychological drama that explores the idea of loss in sports, its ethics, and the mental toll it takes on athletes in the event of an unfortunate incident. In the 27-minute short film, the protagonist, Faiz, played by Kishore Roshik, is reeling from a boxing match that ended with him accidentally killing his opponent. He is guilt-ridden, unable to recover after the bout.

The film premiered at iNiM: India International Short Movie Fest 2024 in the UAE.

Editing remains one of the film’s positives with Fazil Rasak, director of the critically-acclaimed film Thadavu, at the helm. Amos worked as an associate cinematographer in Thadavu. “One of the jury members had contacted us. She complimented us for keeping the story brief. Our editor played a huge role in that. We shot extra footage just in case we needed it. The first cut of the film was around 34 minutes.”

A stills from Opponent
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The director says he has learnt direction and cinematography working with Fazil and Mridul S, the film’s cinematographer. “They both learned filmmaking making short films in college and applying to film festivals. They make a strong team and have helped me achieve the award,” says Amos, who has worked on around 35 short films, some of which have not been released.

The actors in the short film have also won accolades, with Kishore winning the Best Actor award at the LK International Film Festival and the FETE International Short Film Festival, and Amritha Krishnakumar winning a special jury mention for her performance as Faiz’s sister at the iNiM: India International Short Movie Fest. “Everyone in the team has won at least one award across film festivals, which is an encouragement for us to move forward.”

Kishore Roshik as Faiz
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“For Faiz, we wanted someone with a background in martial arts. We decided on Kishore since he is trained in Kalaripayattu and had the flexibility to perform as a boxer,” says Amos. The actor trained for three weeks with Nowfar Khan, action choreographer of Daveed (2025), a Malayalam film set against the backdrop of boxing, starring Antony Varghese.

Amos says one of the biggest challenges with Opponent was shooting the boxing sequence. “For the rest of the scenes, we felt like we were in control. For the fight, we had planned to have a crowd in the competition hall. However, we could not hire anyone due to budgetary constraints. People who were expected to come didn’t show up either. That’s when we decided to shoot it with a slow shutter speed, which gave it a hazy feel,” says Amos, reflecting on capturing the most crucial scene in the film.

The fight sequence, which appears slightly blurry, mirrors the characters’ physical state after engaging in a rigorous round. “After the film was released, everyone has been lauding that decision.”

Apart from working as an associate to cinematographer Mridul, Amos is getting ready for his feature film directorial debut. “I believe my work with Opponent is done, and I need to move forward. It’s time for people to watch it and share their input. Some people have enjoyed the film, while a few others have also pointed out a few mistakes. I accept both,” says Amos.

Opponent is streaming on Bhavana Studios’ YouTube channel