It sure looks like Coimbatore is the first stop for those with dreams of making it in Tinseltown lately. While many established directors have their roots in their city, budding actors, directors and filmmakers confess to getting the much needed launch for their careers from the city.
“I did my schooling and college in Coimbatore, and moved to Chennai, where I started working as an assistant director a few years ago. My ambition had always been to get into the film industry, and the colleges here, with their screening of international films and interaction with some cinema stars, give us the initial exposure and the scope to think big in terms of making a foray into Kollywood,” says Kandesh Raj, actor, who has a Tamil and Malayalam film, which are soon expected to release.
Not just actors, many directors are emerging from the city with a limited budget, but very unique ideas. “I have always been fascinated by the process of filmmaking, and pursuing my undergraduation and postgraduation in visual communication from a city college gave me the confidence to make several short films, and a feature film was only a natural progression,” says S Kamalakannan, whose debut feature, Madhubaana Kadai (MBK) will be out in theatres next month.
The director admits that the technical crew, who racked up five years of industry experience in Chennai before assisting him in this film, made things that much easier.
“The city gives us a lot of scope to bring out creativity in our stories, and the advent of malls and multiplexes ensures that even off-beat themes are screened and well accepted here,” he reasons.
Another director admits to feeling a sense of gratitude with the city, which he has a strong connection with. “The most crucial years of my life have been spent in Coimbatore, and I have often watched three or four films over the weekend during my college years. Gauging the audience’s reaction to the films that were being screened gave me an insight into their thinking as well. My upcoming film is my way of paying tribute to the city that gave the confidence to become a director,” says Narayana Nagendra Rao, director of the soon-to-be released Maalai Pozhuthin Mayakathile.
While some local directors experiment with slice-of-life stories, others from the city tap into the industries that made it famous. “My film focuses on the evolution of the textile mill industry, tracing it’s history from the 50s to the current day. I have fit in a love story in those times of transition, as mills dominated Coimbatore, Pollachi and Udumalpet, and working in a textile mill was looked at as a status symbol in itself,” says Dhanapal Padmanabhan, director of the film Krishnaveni Panjali.
Dhanapal is impressed with the encouragement given by city colleges towards short films as well. “Colleges encourage a lot of creativity in short films, and that is a phenomenon restricted to this city. If the technical industry was based here, Coimbatore could well be on par with Chennai,” the director says, highly impressed by the city.
source: http://www.TimesofIndia.IndiaTimes.com / Home> Entertainment> Regional> Tamil / by Vaibhav Shastry/ TamilNadu, March 26th, 2012