It takes courage to make a film, a small film, which neither has a starry cast nor a humungous budget. The bias against small films is such that most often than not they go unheard and unnoticed, a well-known name being the magnet that draws the crowds.
Arun Omana Sadanandan’s Maanasaandrapetta Yezdi is one such small film. The cast, in fact, comprises theatre veterans and budding actors.
Arun is not bothered by the lack of stars on the credit roll. “The crowd at the first day, first show may not be spectacular. But I am confident that word of mouth publicity, based on the response to the film, will generate a buzz and it will get people into theatres.” Well aware that the film is working against the current, however, he has studied the trend of similar films – love stories and comedies – being well-received. Rather than work with the comfort of big names he wanted to, with his debut, take a chance and try something new. Arun has also scripted the film.
The film traces the fortunes of three men and Yezdi motorbike, they come to own at different times over a couple of decades. The bike thus is a metaphor for evolution – “A vehicle is often a very integral part of our lives…it knows quite a few things about us. The Yezdi, similarly, is privy to what goes on in the lives of the characters.” The film, a comedy with elements of fantasy thrown in, covers the Yezdi’s life from its heyday to the present.
P. Balachandran, Jayan Cherthala and Indrans comprise the lead actors. The rest of the actors are products of Kochi-based Act Lab. “They are freshers in the true sense of the word – generally there are very few ‘freshers’ in the real sense of the term,” says Arun. The technicians too are newcomers. Akhil Sasidharan is the cinematographer.
Cinema was always a passion for Arun, and it was just a matter of time before he took the plunge into filmmaking. So fascinated by cinema was Arun that he took time off, while working in West Asia, to pursue his passion for films. He went to Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute to study acting. Why acting? “I wanted to learn acting, in order to be able to direct so that I could understand the process of being an actor.” He gets to try his acting skills too; he does a cameo in the film. And among these newcomers is a rather well-known newcomer – Baiju Dharmajan. He makes his debut as music director for a commercial project. A challenge, it was, obviously different from how he makes music with his Baiju Dharmajan Syndicate. Incidentally, one song which started out as a song score for the film ended up as the Syndicate’s song. The most enjoyable part of the whole exercise was the freedom he had to create, a necessity for the creative process. The music works organically with the movement of the story. Baiju says: “Creating music that spanned two decades was exciting and fun. The songs are set not in the conventional film score template which made it even more of an exacting challenge.” The lyrics are by S. Rameshan Nair.
The film has been produced by Arun and his father, C.K. Sadanandan, under the Water Farm banner. The film is due for release, of course, subject to availability of theatres.
