The director of photography of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, Eeram and Nanban , Manoj Paramahamsa did not quite know what he would be doing after Nanban … until director Halitha Shameem, his collaborator on two test short films for Fuji, narrated a plot that instantly caught his attention. And just like that, he turned producer.
Poovarasam Peepee is a summer vacation film for kids, Manoj Paramahamsa says during a chat at Amethyst a couple of days before the Kochadaiiyaan release. “With most schools opening only after June 15 because of the summer heat, we have two whole weeks in the theatres,” says the former cinematographer.
Vasanth, Praveen Kishore and Gaurav Kaalai are the three young heroes of this thriller of sorts. Manoj took a year off from commercial cinema and invested in digital cameras (Scarlet Red) and gear (aluminium cranes, glidecams and mini-Steadicam equivalents for Scarlet) just so that he could be independent and shoot without the pressure of escalating budgets.
“I like to be in control,” he says. “I can’t write but I can get things done. Even when I was working with Gautham (Menon), I would be proactively involved in getting things done in production,” he says, explaining his decision to float Babyshoe Productions, based on a short Halitha and he made before — about a Nike shoe and a slipper falling in love, splitting and reuniting.
Poovarasam Peepee is about three kids in rural Tamil Nadu who see something they were not supposed to see. Of the three kids, Vasanth had acted before in Aaranya Kaandam . And Gaurav Kaalai’s parents were so impressed with the film that they chipped in as co-producers (V Talkies). “We advertised in local cable networks around Pollachi that we were looking for kids. That’s how we found Gaurav Kaalai and Praveen Kishore who plays Antenna — the geek of the bunch. We took eight months to complete 65 days of shoot from last May to February this year because we couldn’t shoot beyond 10-12 days at a stretch — the kids would get tired and they also had to attend school.”
The money he got for lensing Race Gurram (Telugu) he put into this. “We spent about six-seven months struggling to get an outright buyer until Sathyam Cinemas came on board to distribute it. They gave us a date and we started promoting.” Manoj’s team started with a modest 80-100 screens with no big indie films or English films lined up for the week. They were looking at a multiplex audience, but expected other crowds to also come in, given the rural backdrop.
The exciting thing for Manoj as cinematographer was capturing rural India because he had mostly shot urban landscapes. “Halitha had a clear idea of the kind of visuals she wanted, the colour tone, she knew the locations since she’s from there. She wanted it to look like a sunny adventure film, so we chose lime green. We shot mostly in the mornings and evenings, exploiting natural light. Never used an outdoor unit. We had a 10-member crew and we used our own vehicles to go around. It was a completely indie set-up.”
The brave young film needs Rs.1.3 crore to break even. “If I cross this mark, I would be game to produce more films, but if it doesn’t, it means I’m not doing it right and my system isn’t working. But irrespective of how it does, I am really happy with the output. I may not be able to take a risk like this after a few years. Today, even if I fall, I can get back on my feet. I just need to do one more Telugu film where people are willing to pay more than a crore for a good cinematographer. Race Gurram generated a producer’s share of Rs. 60-65 crore,” he smiles.
