A well-known city-based film production company, Wide Angle Creations, which has produced Papanaasam with Kamal Haasan in the lead, played an important part in the making of Dheepan , which won the Palm D’ Or at the Cannes film festival.
This would mean that Kalieaswari Srinivasan, who plays the lead, is not the only connection the film has with the city. The film, which was shot for not more than 7-8 days in parts of Mandappam (near Rameswaram), and Ooty among other places in Tamil Nadu, in the month of December and January, has actually made use of a number of local technicians and several hundred junior artistes.
Suresh Balaje, one of the partners in the company that specialises in ‘line production’ in India, said that he did not really expect to win the big prize. “There was a lot of interest in the film because of Jacques Audiard, whose earlier films have been received well by the press. But, honestly, nobody was expecting to win, although everybody was proud that the film was selected in the competition section,” he said.
While the crew only shot for a few days, it wasn’t a small-sized production, says George Pius, Mr. Balaje’s partner. He says that except for the camerawoman, Jacques Audiard, costumer and the art director, the support crew were all locals.
“We erected a big set in Mandapam of a refugee-camp. We worked with hundreds of junior actors on the sets. Even the technical crew had very few people from France. They came with a small crew and the rest of the technicians were locals,” he explained.
George Pius, who worked on the film, said that this recognition for Dheepan would likely open many doors, which were earlier not available for production companies from the South. “Previously, only companies from Mumbai were working with foreign productions. After this award, I hope companies like ours also get a look-in,” he said.
Though Dheepan is a French production, it is said that at least 75 per cent of the film is in Tamil. Asked if he thought if the film would clear the censors, Mr. Balaje said, “ I do not think there is anything wrong with the film. It should release without a hassle,” he said.
The awards for Dheepan are likely to flow as the film will also be in pole position to win the Best Foreign film at the Oscars next year.
City-based Wide Angle Creations played a key role in the making of Dheepan
