'Ottamuri velicham': A dark horse that sheds artistic light

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After happily agreeing to choose ‘

Ottamuri velicham

’ as the best film with others a jury member had only one question: Who are these people who made such a beautiful film? The choice was unanimous and there was not an iota of doubt among the jury although expectations had veered around a handful of other films, honoured in the country and abroad.

For the group of youngsters, mostly IT professionals in their 20s, who formed a production company ‘First print studios’ and pooled together Rs 30 lakh from their savings to make a film; a state award for their first feature is nothing short of a dream. The award is also a sweet revenge for them as the film was not even considered for IFFK-2017.

Rahul Riji Nair, the director of the film, had quit his IT job six months ago. ‘First print studios’ which is into production of short films and music videos had won acclaim through a Tamil music video ‘

Maunam sollum varthaigal

’ which garnered over 86 lakh likes. The best film in Malayalam was created by the crew behind this popular music video.

“We are super excited. It was a small film made with a meagre budget with handful of actors. It tells a very powerful story,” said

Renjit Shekhar Nair

, an actor in the movie and a close associate of Rahul. ‘Troll life', a short film from the production house had won best film award at India Film Project, 2016.

Renjit is also an IT professional and so are the others behind the film: music director

Sidhartha Pradeep

, production controllers Sujith Warrier and Zam. Cinematographer of the film Luke Jose is hardly 22. “For most of us, it was our first experience in a fulllength feature film. We had our share of experience making short films, some of which had won honours as well,'' said Renjit.

The film was shot over a schedule of 22 days in a house at Bonacaud. The crew stayed at Vithura and would travel every morning to the location, carrying with them shooting equipment. The film is about a woman named Sudha who gets married to Chandran and is brought to a village and is subjected to domestic abuse until she resolves to fight back.

A four-member family is crammed into a single room which emanates a light (Ottamuri velicham). The title of the film throws deeper insights into the narrative. “Usually we associate light with something positive. In this film, light has a negative dimension,'' said Renjit.

The film has won official selection in Film Bazaar Recommends at NFDC Film Bazaar-2017.