Almost everything in the film industry is budget-driven. The size of the budget determines the way a film is treated at the box office. Of course, once in a while, a small budget film makes a big impact. With the emergence of Citizen Reviewers these films are being brought more to the notice of serious film goers. Says Sathish Kumar, who writes under the pseudonym of Common Man, “I love watching movies in different languages with subtitles; sometimes I watch as many as five or six during weekends. No one wants to see a movie which does not fare well at the box office. Directors and producers make movies with great effort. Hence, I look for positives even in badly made movies and highlight them in my reviews (www.facebook.com/Tamil.News.Reviews). His reviews have a good following. Sathish Kumar firmly believes that more people, especially youngsters, should come forward and support short and small budget filmmakers.
Love and remembrance
In the face of a comedy film onslaught in recent times, it is interesting to note that a feel-good romantic film is being made by a group of young talented technicians. Producer K. Poornachandra’s O2 Pictures, in association with Harmon Movie Makers has just launched their maiden venture, Orey Nyabagam directed by V. Vignarajan, an associate of director Radhamohan. Madhan Karky and Thamarai have written beautiful romantic lyrics to go with the fresh music of American clarinet player and composer Shankar Tucker. Vignarajan believes that the new crop of cast and crew will help bring out the uniqueness in the screenplay. “It is a film set in present time with a few flash back scenesThere is a suspense element too,” says Vignarajan. The names of the cast will be revealed only when the film nears completion.
Fiery script
Directors M. Vineesh and M. Prabheesh were inspired by an incident that took place in Kerala when writing the story and screenplay for Thee Kulikkum Pachai Maram . With several award-winning ad commercials and documentaries in Malayalam to their credit, the two have a lot of hope from their first feature film. Says Vineesh, “ Our short film, Chandrahasannu Sesham , in Malayalam was well-received. Friends encouraged us to make it into a feature film and we felt that the Tamil industry would be the right place to explore this.” The story is based on the life of a man who works in a mortuary and commits suicide after witnessing the miserable happenings in the mortuary. Thee Kulikkum Pachai Maram is a social commentary in which features TV anchor-turned-actor Prajan and Sarayu who has done several Malayalam films.
The power of five
It has been a while since the release of his last film Poo (starring Shrikant). Director Sasi had been working on the script of Ainthu Ainthu Ainthu (555) starring Bharath. The actor has worked hard on his physique to suit the character. Keeping him company are Mirthika and Erica Fernandes while the current numero uno comedian, Santhanam provides the mirth. Director Sasi, busy with the post-production work, took time out to talk about the movie: “Bharath portrays two different looks in the film. From an ordinary software engineer he transforms into an action hero after witnessing a crime.”
