The price of a biriyani! That is the remuneration promised for cast and crew of short films made by a group of cine buffs in Trivandrum.
“It all began with a group of friends with stars in our eyes about cinema getting together to discuss films and talk about scripts and so on. Since we were all not exactly rolling in cash, we decided that we would make the films and the only remuneration would be a biriyani,” explains producer and filmmaker Parthan Mohan.
Called ‘Biriyani Films,’ the two short films that they have made in the last two years is only a taste of bigger things to come, says Parthan who has directed both the films. The second film, Ellam Sheriyaakum , released last week sans any kind of publicity, has garnered more than 4,000 views and enthused film buffs. Aravind Krishnan, Jay Menon, Arun Karthikeyan, Asthra Lakshmi and Rajesh Jayakumaran have acted in the short.
Ellam Sheriyaakum is about how a person is made to run from pillar to post to get a simple government document corrected. The six-minute short is a humorous take on his plight and how he finally resolves it. The first, Madam (madness), made in 2017, is about the debate about a man’s choice of meat!
“The next will be directed by the protagonist, Aravind, in the two shorts. Each of us plans to take turns to direct the films or play different roles in the filmmaking process. Since I have been in the cinema field for some time, I act as a bridge for connecting the crew with some leading technicians and creative people working in cinema,” explains Parthan.
Since all of them are working in different professions, it takes time and effort to green light a project but they want to do it with the best of professional expertise instead of going for half-hearted efforts. He points out that in Madam, music director Rahul Raj and film editor Appu Bhattathiri had worked without any remuneration but for the biriyani.
“Anyone who wants to make a film can do so without splurging a huge amount on production. We plan to keep this ticking till we actually make some money with our films. But till then, the aim of Biriyani Films is to create relevant, creative content and broadcast it on any platform, online or otherwise. In case we make any money on our films, we want to use that buy biriyani for the hungry,” Parthan adds.
