Filming action in Manidhargal

Filmmaker Sujith explores the action genre in his 34-minute short film Manidhargal.

Aboorva Sagatharargal drew a young Sujith to movies. He was bowled over by the performance of Appu, the circus clown played by Kamal Hassan in the film. “My addiction to films started there. I then watched Nayagan , Thevar Magan , all of Maniratnam, Kamal Hassan, and Rajnikanth films. I was fascinated by superhero films, the iconic Godfather series and films like Shawshank Redemption . Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park got me hooked to VFX and CGI,” says Sujith DH.

Sujith decided he wanted a career in filmmaking, and he set out to train himself for it. His parents sent him to Bangalore to study engineering, but for his masters he studied visual communication. He enrolled at Frameworks Institute to learn visual effects.

His first short film

Manidhargal , an action thriller was screened to a packed audience recently. “It was a big day. The feedback was good. I plan to screen it in colleges that offer visual communication courses.” The film is about a police officer's son getting kidnapped. Three guys play the good, bad, and the ugly…

The idea to make a short film came about during his kung fu classes with martial arts teacher Sisu Balaa. “Sisu Balaa has done cameos in many films including actor Surya’s

7am Arivu . I chose the action genre for my first film as it has not been explored before. We have gone for realistic stunts, especially the ones involving Chinese martial arts, and it has a meaningful story too. We have used VFX effects too,” explains the director.

It took him two years to complete the film. He wrote the story, produced the film, and took charge of pre-production, production, and post-production. Besides editing, he also plays the main villain in the film. “I shot the film over weekends at places in and around Avarampalayam. Panjharaksha Studios have given an amazing background score . My kung fu master choreographed the stunts. The film is a coming together of talent from varied fields.”

Though Sujith has made several five-minute short films,

Manidhargal was a big step. “Especially, since I had to make it without any financial backing. I could only afford a Canon 550 D. I shot the film mostly during the day as natural light works out cheaper. We rehearsed the stunts and went in for just about five or six variations to ensure that editing was less time-consuming. The film is my way of saying thank you to all who have contributed and been a part of it.” He wants to make more films in the CGI and VFX genre. “The trend is picking up. The technology is a boon to explore mythological and futuristic themes in Tamil films.”

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