When aspiring filmmakers set out to do their first film, they often try to stay within their comfort zone, even telling a story from their own life, in their language own language.
But Nithin Anil and his crew of five wanted something more challenging on their debut.
So, they travelled out from their native State of Kerala, looking for a suitable place to set their quirky story in, and ended up 2,000 kilometres away, in Arale, a nondescript village in Maharashtra.
The story evolved as they lived in the village.
The villagers became the main actors in the film and the film itself was made entirely in Marathi with the help of a Malayalam-Marathi translator.
Apt title
‘A Thing Of Magic’ is quite an apt title for the film, going by the story behind its making. It has now been selected for the 21st Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival to be held next month, in the India Story section. “I got the idea for the film while volunteering near a village in Hampi. I heard two kids talking about cinema, although there was not a single theatre anywhere nearby. When we were travelling around and looking for a suitable topography to set this story, Aninditha Pradeep, who worked as the translator, suggested this village near Satara district, where she lives,” says Nithin.
When they suggested the idea of a film set in Arale, the villagers took them by surprise, welcoming them warmly.
A small house, which was rented out to them, became a makeshift audition camp, with a large number of people turning up to become actors.
“We were blown away by their performances. None of them were very familiar with any aspect of filmmaking, but they were not at all conscious in front of the camera. Over a 100 people from the village acted in the film. We were under the assumption that we could manage communicating with our basic knowledge of Hindi. But the villagers there did not even know as much Hindi as we did. This was a revelation,” says Nithin.
The story revolves around Gundu Kaakka, a struggling harmonium player, who aspires to join a local drama troupe.
One day, after watching a 3D movie, he presents a pair of 3D glasses to two sisters – Pradnya and Pratheeksha. He tells them that the glasses have magical powers visible only to him.
Though they initially refuse to believe him, an event soon occurs that raises the sisters’ curiosity. And as the determined sisters try to find out the truth about the glasses, other tiny stories of the little village slowly unfold.
The other members of the skeletal crew were producer and associate director Anju Prasad, cinematographer Priyadarshan, Binoy Pulakode who did live sound, and editor Vignesh.
‘Village Rockstars’
Inspired by Assamese filmmaker Rima Das’s ‘Village Rockstars’, which was made at a low budget with a small crew, they also wanted to make one at a miniscule cost.
“We made the film with minimal equipment, borrowing some and even making some. For example, our shoulder rig was made out of a few PVC pipe cuttings and bearings. We managed to make it in a very small budget,” says Nithin.
