The Score Magazine - Archive February 2009 issue! | Page 12

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that few directors are chatty about, “It is based on a bunch
of 12th standard kids. So a lot of research went into under-
standing the current scenario.
It is surprising to find how mature and well informed they
are, compared to my days in college. Though it’s a bit cold-
er than I remember, I see more independent thought, and
an increased rebellious outlook. Which contribute toward
making it a different, yet wholesome commercial movie”,
she guardedly discloses.
Inspiration, they say, comes from various quarters, or most
likely from within; a statement that she vehemently re-
futes, “17 is an unbalanced age, you have to decide what is
right and wrong, and both parents and friends have a hand
in that. Considering I was out of place in college, and was
considered a bit of an outcast I’d say it was still an interest-
ing subject to delve into and experience again; revisit those
days”
Moving on to the characters in the movie, judging from the
detail in the profiling, it is evident that a large amount of re-
search has gone into the moulding of each character; none
of whom have any brand value or ‘star’ appeal in the least,
“When I scripted the characters and started the audition
process, I found that sometimes they would look perfect but
wouldn’t have the essence I was looking for. Most of them
had done just basic stage acting which I think it is very fresh.
Sometimes I’d introspect to find out what I really wanted
and mix and match them till that perfect combination ar-
rived”
Working with freshers though can have its share of flips, es-
pecially with a constantly evolving character line and when
the entire cast and crew hail from ages 17 to 24, besides
a downturn on the professionalism count, “I’d never know
what was going to happen when I started the shoot, or when
something was going to goof up. The script acted as more
of a backbone. If at some point of time something didn’t
work, or I felt it didn’t work, it would come off. People, who
have seen the rushes of the film, can’t believe these guys
are amateurs.” She claims with pride.
Of course, one of the most important pre-requisites of
shooting a movie revolving around school is quite obviously,
a school. Seeing as how sets aren’t quite adequate in de-
tail and shooting on a campus isn’t quite the simplest thing,
purely because of the academic calendar, we did wonder
how they managed it, “The whole movie was shot in a
school, in Ooty, and as much as I wanted it to go through
different seasons as such, the bulk of the production was
done entirely in the holidays. It was quite a rollercoaster
ride; crazy!”
On a more personal note though, she does agree that the
entire experience has quite literally been one steep learning
curve, more than just a stressful ordeal, “One really needs to
have people skills to get the best from their actors. I am not
that friendly and don’t mingle much. So I get uncomfortable
with people,being both the producer and the director, time
was a crunch. For once I found that I had to try to be patient
though I have no real patience!” she admits candidly.
To cap it all, it does appear to lead up to what is increasingly
looking like an interesting
Flick. With every element of commercial cinema embedded
in it, packaged with the swirl of youth and a whiff of innova-
tion thrown in, it remains to be seen whether the formula
can set a mark as far as pioneering this particular genre
goes.
After all, how much longer can ‘Kana Kaanum Kalangal’
hold sway over the school-goers stage?