For him film making is a craft that he learned in the tenure of 14 years. Watching films getting made and stories getting told through the celluloid made Siddique Chennamangalur, the debutant director of the movie ‘Oomakuyil Padumbol’, plunge into industry with a story that dealt a very relevant topic. Though he faced a lot of hurdles in bringing out his first film, he is already working on the second.
“ The first question that everybody asked me when I told them I have a movie in my mind, was ‘ What is the cast?. ‘The industry works on stardom and promotes the stars, rather than a good story or a message. This was very disappointing for me as a filmmaker ” says Siddique.
The movie that was made in the budget of ` 90 lakh was produced by Siddique himself. The cast of the movie includes state award winning child actress Malavika, who dons the character of Rima, a Muslim girl who is interested in learning her mother tongue. Other important actors in the movie include child artist Roshan, Shankar and Nilamboor Aisha. The storyline revolves around the issue of the commercialization of education in school level where children are force-fed on knowledge and not given the opportunity to showcase their inherent talents.
“ Most of the students who approach psychiatrists are from English medium schools where students are put under pressure in the name of education. This trend of rising stress in children is the cornerstone of my movie.” says Siddique, who completed the work of his script in two years time.
Another theme that has been brought in to the movie is the love and affection children share with the elderly people at their home. The director also says that phenomenons like Santosh Pandit in Malayalam film industry are to be feared, as it would stereotype the work of all the debutant directors and create a negative impression on all the movies that come with a low budget.
“There is nothing that can be called as a movie in the work of Santosh Pandit. without a long term experience in filmmaking nobody can claim themselves to be directors. People like Santosh Pandit are nightmares to directors like me,” adds Siddique.
‘Oomakuyil Padumbol’, was released in eight theaters in the Malabar region and it completed three weeks of successful run in seven. 100 copies of the movie will be distributed in 4000 schools in the state. The satellite rights of the movie have been sold out.
“Students have recognized the merit of the movie. And they are my biggest audience. The movie would be reappearing in the theaters after April once the exam season is over,” adds Siddique.
Siddique is currently working on his second film, a biopic of the former chief minister of Kerala, C H Muhammad Koya.