Engineering alumni enter filmmaking
‘Chapters’, the soon-to-be released Malayalam film, has 50 + 1 producers. Surprised? The film encrypts a new chapter in the life of a group of old college-mates, alumni of NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad. Campus Oaks, an entertainment firm formed by these friends, is producing the film along with Qurban Films. With its motto ‘Engineering Entertainment’, the group of engineers are all set to realise their common passion - movie.
The 1995-pass out students from various engineering departments have been in touch through mails and social networking sites. A group which was active in theatre, mime, mimicry and literary activities during their college days, used to meet once in every two years. Friends from various parts of the globe met at convenient places, be it in Dubai, Bangalore or Kerala. “Every meeting passes with lots of fun, dance and jokes. One of our friends suggested doing something creative and the discussion ended up on films,” says Dilip, employee of TCS, Kochi, and member of Campus Oaks.
Dilip says ‘Chapters’, directed by debutant Sunil Ibrahim, is a result of discussion and brainstorming spanning a period of three years. Why debutant for a new venture? “It was the novelty of the script that attracted us. During the past three years we approached several personalities in the industry to discuss our plan to produce a film. Finally, we met Sunil through a common friend. It was easy to convince as all were satisfied with the script,” Dilip says.
In order to minimise the risk of investing a huge amount, the members decided to invest minimum ` 1 lakh per person for the project. Shafeer Sait of Qurbaan Films is the other producer of the film.
‘Chapters’ was a learning experience for the team. “We used to join the set whenever we had time. We were involved in various activities of film making. Since most of the cast and crew were youngsters, we had a fun-time,” he adds. Young actors Nivin Pauly, Hemant, Gautami Nair and Riya play the lead characters in the film. Another key role is played by Sreenivasan.
More than fifteen years after their last exam, it is a nail-biting wait for another result for the team as ‘Chapters’ is all set to release by the end of November. Campus Oaks has plans to explore more vistas which include a second movie in addition to literary, art and cultural ventures.