What do we think of when we recall films on the apocalypse? We’re reminded of zombies attacking people, the earth being wiped out due to a calamity or an alien invasion. But, we hardly get to see the emotions people experience in the face of such an apocalypse. Srinivas Ganesh’s short film of 25-minute duration, The Unknown, strives to do that.
”I was really into movies such as 2012 , The Day After Tomorrow and the like,” says Cheena, as he is popularly known, “That’s how The Unknown came about. We did not want to show anything extravagant and just wanted to focus on an individual’s emotions.”
The film begins with a man (played by Arjun Chidambaram) fixing breakfast for his girlfriend and himself. Only when he converses with her, do we get to know that she’s a doll. And then, we get to know that a virus has taken over the earth and that he is the only person left stranded in a house, with only a bell hook to protect himself. He wonders what to do till he hears someone knocking on the door. He points a gun at himself and the film ends before we can hear a gun shot. “It is up to the audience to imagine the ending. Honestly, I do not know myself what the ending ought to be like,” says Cheena.
The 24-year-old has been interested in writing and acting since he was young. He recently assisted director Madhumitha in the making of her film Moone Moonu Varthai . He’s currently working on two horror anthologies in Tamil and is also part of another feature film. Catch The Unknown at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVgcYRbgamU
