Even in the midst of a break due to COVID-19, Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) and the Indian Adfilm Makers (IAM) switched on lights and camera for some action to shoot nine short films to create awareness about how to battle the Coronavirus as a society and practise social distancing to break the chain and stop the spread of the virus. The tag line of the films is ‘Nine superheroes and one villain, Corona’.
“The nine films are an initiative of FEFKA and IAM. The idea was planned and executed within two to three days just before the lockdown and the whole effort was led by teams of experienced and leading members of FEFKA and IAM. Directors Leo Thaddeus, Arun Gopy and Siddarth Siva were on location with the teams shooting the films. Sound, editing and music were all taken care of by our union members in charge of those departments. Three films have been released on YouTube on Wednesday. Five more will be released in the following days,” says film director B Unnikrishnan, general secretary of FEFKA, who heads the project along with Renji Panicker, scenarist, director and actor.
Wonder Woman Vanaja , featuring actors Muthumani and Sreeja Das, was the first to be released by Mohanlal on his Facebook page on Tuesday. It has been viewed by more than 40,000 viewers and counting. Featuring Manju Warrier’s voiceover, the less-than-one-minute film shows a lawyer, Vanaja, advising Sita, her domestic help, to stay at home and stay safe. Vanaja also gives Sita her salary to tide over the situation.
“As soon as the team got in touch with me, I agreed to be on board. The plot or the character did not matter. I liked the theme because the question of domestic workers and their livelihood is a grey area that is usually overlooked. The film focused on how important it was to ensure that they stayed at home without being forced to go without salary. The shoot was over in record time,” says Muthumani, a lawyer in real life who is working on her doctorate.
Directed by senior ad filmmaker Vinod A K, the film’s music has been composed by Rahul Raj. “We are working on a war footing. I did the music for Wonder Woman Vanaja and Superman Sadanandhan, which was released on Wednesday. Music director Ronnie Raphael is also working on some of the films. We are trying to work with a small team to ensure a common musical thread,” says Rahul.
Superman Sadanandhan features film director Johny Antony playing Sadhanandhan, an NRI who has come to Kerala for his niece’s wedding. However, instead of attending the wedding, he quarantines himself at home as a responsible citizen, thus becoming a ‘superman’.
Johny, who has made a name for himself as an actor, especially after his effortless act as a psychiatrist in Varane Avashyamundu, says he was happy to be part of such a campaign. “I enjoyed the theme and working with the team led by ad filmmaker Kumar Neelakantan. My only difficulty was that it was almost a solo act. So I found it a little embarrassing to do it all on my own. But these are situations all of us have faced and I managed to do it. However, I am relieved that the response has been good,” he says.
All the films were shot in Kochi and none of the actors or technicians took any remuneration for their efforts. “Each film has a common man who rises to the challenge to break the chain, thus becoming a superhero and every film touches on different aspects of social distancing and efforts to battle the pandemic,” explains Unnikrishnan.
Wonder Woman Sara , starring Rajisha Vijayan and Kunjan; Superhero Suni with Vishnu Unnikrishnan; Wonder Woman Vidya featuring Anna Reshma Rajan; Superman Shaji starring Siddartha Siva; Superman Subair with Sohan Seenulal and Superhero Anthony with Da Vinci Suresh will be released in the coming days.
