Daring to chase his dreams after quitting his secure job with an IT company four years ago, Arvind Kamath set out to make a film last year. The challenge: not to spend more than Rs. 50,000 on it.
And here I was, watching it, pleasantly surprised at what he had managed to do with limited resources.
Innuendo is a rather dark, disturbing episodic film that doffs its hat to Danny Boyle, Darren Aronofsky and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu with its heady mix of sex, drugs and alcohol, as the filmmaker explores three different relationships — the bond between a mother and son (shot intimately indoor), a muse and an author (mostly outdoors to capture the writer’s wide mindscape), and finally, a group of friends at a bachelor party. The episodes are interconnected loosely, but the film is not about the common thread but the differing dynamics in a society at the cusp of change.
Pre-release pangs
In Chennai for a private screening for his film Innuendo , Arvind spoke about the pangs of getting his independent film seen and released.
So, how did he finally make the film for Rs. 45,000? “When I decided to make a film, I had to pick this one because it excited me even after one-and-a-half years of writing it. This script was closest to my heart because I had experienced parts of it and also witnessed some, first-hand. I told my team to do it only if it liked the script. I didn’t make the film with Rs. 45,000, my cast and crew made it.”
Quitting his high-paying job meant he had to stay all the more committed towards his dream. “Since I had no experience of assisting a filmmaker or even the academics of a film school, except a few workshops over the last four years and learning everything by myself, I realised the best route to making films was to try making one. So, it all started as an experiment that would help me learn filmmaking better.”
Arvind collaborated with aspiring filmmakers and organised auditions to cast his actors. “I had my own camera and edit suite, so that took care of other overheads. All I had to spend on was the food, location and production logistic costs. My IT / management experience came in handy I guess, I was able to contain it within the budget.”
What kind of films does he hope to make? “Personal stories that excite me. Be it any genre, language, geography... Being able to make money out of it would be great. I believe in just two kinds of films: honest and dishonest, and I want to see a day when honest films sell.”
