CHENNAI: The story of how 'Avalukkenna Azhagiya Mugam' happened is an interesting one. A story of doggedly following one's dream, is equally the story of five people, studying in the same college, dreaming the same dream, discovering each other after moving on from college.
These five former students of media-related courses in MCC (pursuing either Mass Communication or Visual Communication), came together for their love for cinema. In the words of director-producer V Nischala Krishna, it was destiny that brought them together. ''As students of the media department, we all nurtured dreams of making films. But it was destiny that brought us together, years after we passed out of the Madras Christian College,'' he says. ''We, however, weren't classmates. A few of them are my juniors in college,'' he adds.
The film, Avalukkenna Azhagiya Mugam, is what he'd call a classic love story with a twist. ''It is, in the first half, a clean breezy love story. Only in the second half do we jolt the audience by making it a psychological thriller,'' explains Krishna. The lead pair, Rajkumar and Sinu Kamala, are students of MCC, as the producer-director, executive producer and cinematographer are.
The movie is being both produced and directed by Krishna. ''I had this story and I knew this would make an interesting film. When producers turned us down, I decided to go ahead and produce it myself. I don't regret making that decision now,'' he elaborates. Over 75 percent of the film is complete. ''We had a brisk shooting schedule that began late last year. We expect to be done in a month,'' explains Krishna, who calls the movie a trendsetter. ''It's not just in terms of the theme of the movie, but in the technology backing it,'' he then explains, adding that it is a digital movie. ''I've also named my banner Independent Indian Digital Entertainment only because I have a dream to promote digital cinema,'' he says.
Point out to him that digital films, from Vaanam Vasappadum to Mumbai Express haven't hit the bull's eye, and Krishna doesn't agree. ''Mine is not a niche movie. Love stories are evergreen. I've only altered the format of filmmaking, not the content,'' he argues, even as he adds that he is eyeing the international market for his movie.
sharadha@epmltd.com