Short takes to success

OFFBEAT: Cinematographer Shamdat with the crew of short film, Advaitham.

Shamdat, like many of the Malayali cinematographers (Ajayan Vincent, Rajesh Touchriver) and directors (Anish Kuruvilla), who have migrated to other industries, has been busy in the Telugu film industry of late. He was behind the camera for ‘Avakkai Biriyani', a new age film which had another Malayali, Anish Kuruvilla as director. ‘Prasthanam', a Deva Katta movie, which is a sort of landmark movie in Telugu, also had Shamdat as the DOP (Director of Photography).

But at the recently concluded short film festival in Hyderabad, Shamdat, who cranked the camera for ‘Rithu', ‘Krithyam' etc, joined hands with Pradip Madugula to make ‘Advaitham', which won the award for best film and also best photography for him.

To prove talent

Short films bring out the artiste in a person, declaring to the world that here is someone who has what it takes to make a full movie, given the budget, equipment, cast and attendant paraphernalia. They bring out the message without any frills and don't take a toll on your time.

“Pradip Madagula, an animator, was working as Telugu director Chandrashekhar Yeleti's assistant. He is passionate about cinema and wanted to make a short film with a story that his father had written. His father died when he was 14,” says Shamdat. But this short film, just 20 minutes long, gave him so much of job satisfaction, he adds. The entire technical crew worked for free, seeing the potential in the movie and the sincerity of the director. Only the actors were paid. This is the reason why the film could be completed in just under Rs. 6 lakhs. Earlier, ‘Advaitham' also won the best movie award at a short film festival in Vijayawada.

So, what's new about ‘Advaitham'?

“The movie was shot without a conventional light unit, in available natural light. The camera was on a 40 ft crane most of the time. We would all get into an old matador, with the equipment and cart it ourselves, take it in a boat to an island, where much of the shooting happened,” he narrated. Most of the crew were in it for the love of cinema. They were engineers, business management graduates among them. In that short 20 minutes, there were two songs too. Santhosh Narayanan, who scored the music, is A R Rahman's assistant. “It's there on Youtube, watch it and you can feel the subject,” Shamdat says. The subject is all about true friendship and also about art forms. Two friends from different communities in a village also are votaries of two different art forms. They keep sparring in defence of their respective art forms. When one falls ill, he is taken to the city for treatment. The other friend misses him a lot and dies before he could come home from the city.

Telugu cinema is fast changing, feels Shamdat and young filmmakers are making many off beat movies that are vastly different from those that were in vogue some years ago. The transition phase is spearheaded by many highly educated young filmmakers and technicians who are in the IT sector. Just as in Tamil cinema, the different genres of movies, with their own viewership, coexist.