It is about a dog shelter with 200 stray dogs, and the caretaker S.V. Geetha Rani. The story of Gnamali , a 25-minute short film, won hearts at every film festival it was screened. A total of 18 credits, says an elated T.R. Vijayanand, writer and director. It got noticed for story, screenplay, editing, music, and direction. After the festival round-up, Gnamali with English sub-titles releases online today on World Stray Animals Day (April 4)
Director Vijay, who wanted to make a film about dogs, tweaked the script after he met Geetha Rani who runs a shelter for stray, injured and abandoned dogs at Periamaddhampalayam near Coimbatore. “Geetha lives there with 200 dogs and maintains the place single-handedly. We wrote the story inspired by her work. Though the story is part fiction, all the characters and the location are real,” says Vijay. The team has also made a documentary on Geetha.
Vijay started filming Gnamali in 2014 at Geetha’s shelter. “We spent more than a week there. It was a challenging experience. Filming dogs is not easy. We have to wait for days to capture an emotion. The stench can put anyone off. For night shoots, we had to wait for them to sleep. The pups grow really fast. They look different in a month’s time. We had look for puppies that looked similar to ensure continuity,” he laughs.
Another big challenge was sound design, which they figured out during post-production. “While there are recorded sounds of Dalmatians and Dobermans, it was difficult to get sounds of Indian dogs. We showed the rushes to veteran sound engineer Raju and sound mixer Tharani. Raju has worked in over 300 films including Thuppakki and Maatran . They sent a team to Coimbatore to capture the real sounds. You will hear raw sounds of dogs in the film,” he explains.
There is also a one-minute animation in the beginning, brilliantly executed by Mumbai-based animation artists. “We worked on a tight budget. Luckily, some of the best technicians and musicians came on board. Most are now busy doing feature films. It makes us feel proud,” says Vijay. The Animal Welfare Board of India has approved the film. “The Censor Board cleared the film without any cuts. It was a great learning experience.”
Finding a sponsor took time. “After seeing the visuals, National Model School, Coimbatore, came forward to be associated with us. We started work on sound design, digital work and post-production only after we found sponsors. We have been working on the film since 2013. We held back the online release and took it first to the festival circuit. A crime thriller or a romantic film would have easily grabbed eyeballs. But, we chose humanity and the wait was worth it.”
Vijay says he wanted to make a film with a positive ending. “A new genre that is an eye-opener. A film about humanity and stray dogs is something people can relate to. The film taught us the virtue of patience. We invested our time and energy whole-heartedly in the project. And, it paid off.”
More on Gnamali
Watch the film at www.youtube.com/s16news
Notable awards
Cinematographer K.V. Anand who made films like Ayan and Anegan, judged Gnamali as the best film and best in cinematography.
Director Magizh Thirumeni who made action thrillers like Thadaiyara Thaakka and Meaghamann rated it as the best film.
Special Jury – Director Balu Mahendra Award judged by a jury consisting of film editor Lenin, Karthik Subburaj ( director of Pizza and Jigarthanda) and Tamil writer Charu Nivedita
Best music director award for Al Rufian at Rolling Frames International Film Festival in Bangalore
North American Fetna Award by the Tamil Sangam
Director Mahendran judged the film as the best in all categories at a competition held at Sastra University in Tanjore
For more details
Call Vijayanand at 99447-27777.
Geetha Rani can be contacted at 88702-07443
