Akkanathil (At That Moment), a 27-minute film, is one of the two shorts in Tamil (the other being Mission Thiruvanmiyur ) selected for entry at the Woodpecker Film Festival to be held in Delhi next month. It’s directed by Keerthinath R., a student of Instrumentation Engineering at Thangavelu Engineering College. Keerthinath is said to have had a passion for filmmaking since his school days. “This being my first short film, I am excited. It has been selected in the thriller category. The story is about a crime that takes place in an ATM on Valentine’s Day. There are two sets of people whose lives culminate at this point — one is an IT couple and the other is a father-son duo. The story depicts the uncertainty in human life,” says Keerthinath who is presently working on the script for his next short film. Akkanathil is produced by S. Ramgopal Production.
A new identity
Balu Anand has not only directed about 15 films, but also taken up character roles in more than 100 films. His current project is Sandhithadhum Sindhithadhum. “Sathya plays the hero who, thanks to connivance, is declared missing, and his name is struck off all police records, despite his supposed involvement in a crime. Years later, it is found that he’s living in a new avatar. The film revolves around the man’s life before he goes missing and his present life that includes romance and family sentiment, told in a light-hearted way,” says Balu Anand. He has roped in Bangalore girl Hudasha as Sathya’s pair.
Waiting to explode
The boys from Pasanga form the quartet in director Vijay Milton’s Goli Soda . Known for his excellent cinematography in films such as Priyamudan , Autograph , Kaadhal and Vazhakku Enn 18/9 , this is Vijay Milton’s second outing as a director. The inspiration for the story is said to have come during an early morning visit to Koyambedu market where he saw dozens of people sleeping along the pavements. Exploring further, he found that for most of them, the day begins and ends on the pavement in the same market and that there was no life beyond that. They, apparently, do whatever job comes their way as long as they can make money for their daily bread. “But, they are all waiting to explode. They are like the ‘ goli soda’ — nobody knows how the soda will flow out of the bottle, it depends on how much pressure was injected into it and how the goli is dislodged,” explains Vijay Milton.
