Sudheer Konderi is a Dubai-based filmmaker who crafts his creativity in two disciplines – fashion and film. Through fresh, distinctive, original and daring narratives, he unleashes his artistic self with various overlapping sensibilities in the form of fashion campaigns, advertisements, feature films, brand videos and fashion tourism movies.
Born and brought up in Kerala, India, Sudheer is the director of 11 Days: A Journey through Real Lives, the first full-length Arabic feature film made in UAE. The bilingual (Arabic and English) family drama he scripted is also a road movie that traces familial bonds and explores the rich Arab culture. The movie earned him several laurels, including Asiavision Award and the Kuwait Government’s Appreciation Award.
Sudheer also has to his credit over 100 ad films conceived and directed for various clothing and fashion brands. His signature traits include the casting of relatively unknown models and the use of atypical concepts to make even everyday products look fresh and appealing. The visual content Sudheer creates tells dynamic, gripping stories of brands that instantly connect with the audience and their identities get etched in their minds.
Early Life
Sudheer Konderi, as a boy growing up in the idyllic countryside of Trichur, had a love for beautiful landscapes, movies and books. He was innately attracted to arts and nursed the dream of becoming a movie maker. When he was doing his post-graduation in Literature, he received an offer from LuLu International in UAE to join their Advertising Department. Excited, he accepted the offer.
Career
At LuLu International, Sudheer got the opportunity to work closely with creative people in diverse streams. His childhood dream was rekindled, as he got involved in the production of advertising films for various brands and services of the Group. And when he got the hang of it, Sudheer decided to take the role behind the camera. He was full of ideas and was successful in applying some of them to the brand requirements of the company.
As his career took off as a filmmaker, he wanted to know more about film making in a structured, professional manner. This passion for knowledge brought him to New York Film Academy where he attended a choice of classes and studied more on the crucial aspects of modern-day filmmaking.
The NYFA experience gave Sudheer an additional layer of confidence, which subsequently opened up more opportunities for him.
Today, while continuing to keep his LuLu base, Sudheer is a noted name in the Middle East fashion industry, spreading his wings to various parts of the world. His recent fashion campaign in Serbia had grabbed much attention for merging his style, ethos and fantasy into the brand, making a statement in the vibrant world of fashion and clothing.
Confidence oozes from his words as Sudheer reminiscences the experience of shooting for LuLu and Reo Fashion Winter Collections 2022, “Shooting at international locations is challenging as well as exciting. The idea is to brand a label as an international venture, appealing to top-class fashionistas and youngsters who keep up with the trends in the industry. Exploring a new destination which would serve as the backdrop of a shoot poses endless creative challenges and possibilities to me. And I love challenging myself. At an era people follow every top-notch brand, my attempt is to make my creatives maintain international standard to stay ahead in the competition and evolve as the world’s best brand campaign.”
