Vimal Chandran on Medium, Curiosity, and the Evolution of Folk SciFi

Indian multidisciplinary artist Vimal Chandran discusses his creative process across photography, illustration, and filmmaking in an interview with Creative Gaga. He describes how ideas emerge spontaneously from everyday moments—street scenes, films, books, music, or conversations—and are then connected with stored memories to form new narratives. For planned projects, he actively searches for an entry point. The choice of medium depends on the story's nature and practical constraints like time and budget. His series Folk SciFi began as a photograph of his nephew at a Kerala temple festival during COVID-19 in 2020, then evolved into illustrations blending science fiction with Indian myths, later expanding into short films, music videos, and brand films; he is now developing a full-length feature film based on the concept. Chandran, who studied engineering and worked in technology, is largely self-taught in digital tools like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, learning through college projects and experimentation. He emphasizes that curiosity and playfulness are central to creativity, and that working across mediums avoids being confined to a single label. His personal projects Unposted Letters and Folk SciFi grew organically without initial plans for monetization, eventually leading to a published book and commercial collaborations. He advises young creatives to pursue genuine interests, embrace authenticity over originality, and find financial stability to enable risk-taking.