Filmmaker R. Arvind is of the opinion that most upcoming directors have got their priorities wrong. “They’re worried about finding a producer, about making a profit. What they really need to do is to establish their name first.” And that’s what he’s trying to do by releasing his debut feature film, Karma … online. “ Karma ’s about an hour long, and just involves two characters in a room. It’s nothing like commercial cinema,” he says. “Just one song, no comedy tracks, no heroine…” However, he isn’t critical of commercial cinema. “In fact, let me be honest and tell you that Karma is my way of getting myself noticed, so I get a chance to make commercial cinema.” The film has already been nominated at the Madrid International Film Festival and the Hollywood Sky Film Festival.
Arvind has even managed to get Anurag Kashyap tweeting about his film. “He’s a champion of indie cinema, and agreed to tweet after we told him that this is the first-ever Tamil film to be released online.” I point out that a film called Ayynoorum Ayynthum made the same claim earlier this year. “But you didn’t have to pay to watch it. You’ll have to pay Rs. 25 to watch my film on iTunes, Google Play and YouTube.”
Arvind, who is also the producer of his film, has almost managed to break even with revenue from these websites. “People don’t mind spending 25 rupees. Even if the film turns out to be disappointing, it isn’t a big loss. That said, my film has got great reception so far.”
Earlier, short films acted as the bridge to feature films for upcoming filmmakers. “Not anymore. There are too many short-film makers out there. I needed to do something different. Hence, Karma .”
