It's official. Film director Shaji N. Karun is making the signature film for the 42nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The soft-spoken director says he is making a film that reflects the spirit of the festival and also touches upon the innovations that are new to the fete this year.
“A signature film is supposed to encapsulate the mood of the festival and the evolution of cinema, and that is my attempt. This year, for the first time, IFFI, will have a separate section for 3-D movies; it showcases the huge technological leaps in movie-making. As such, I plan to include some 3-D effects in the film. In a few years from now, 3-D technology will be a common phenomenon,” he says.
The films will have two peacocks (the peacock is the logo of the IFFI) dancing in tune to nature and its creations. “I plan to have animated peacocks celebrating the goodness that is inherent in all creation. If poetry is the supreme expression of goodness in literature, in the visual world, I believe, it's cinema,” says Shaji.
Music composer Deepankuran, veteran music composer Kaithapram Damodaran Namboodiri's son, is composing the music for the signature film. The filmmaker has just completed a work titled ‘Waiting' for the Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT). The documentary is a must-watch as it has celebrities and people practising different professions ruminating on what ‘waiting' means to each of them. Each of the personalities featured in the film introspects to find out what ‘waiting' is all about. Is it the wait for tomorrow, for death? Or is it waiting for a new dawn or for some one? The personalities, ranging from household names in Kerala to people like you and me, come with startling revelations, some deep, philosophical and thought-provoking, some amusing and irreverent.
“Deepan had composed the music for the movie and it was a pleasure to work with him. We must encourage the spark of creativity in youngsters,” he adds.
Time is of essence as curtains go up on the festival on November 23. “As such, I am racing against time to get it rolling on time,” he adds in an interview over the phone from Chennai.
