Busan Title ‘Don’t Tell Mother’ Director Anoop Lokkur Draws From Personal Experience in Debut Feature

The title of Anoop Lokkur’s debut feature “Don’t Tell Mother” proved prophetic in more ways than one. The writer-director-producer not only explored family secrets in his tender drama about 1990s Bangalore (as Bengaluru was known then), but kept the biggest secret of all from his own mother: that he was using his saved house deposit money to fund the film. The movie premiered in the Windows to Asian Cinema section at the Busan International Film Festival.

“During pre-production, it was revealed that Anoop was not telling his mother about the creation of this feature film, and the fact that he was using his saved up money for a house deposit to fund the feature film,” says cinematographer Matthew Jenkins, who also served as producer on the project. “He told his parents that they were making a short film, knowing that they would not understand how long a short…