THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Lack of funding had shelved the movie ‘Kenjira’ for two years after its shooting and when it was finally screened, it got the most prominent venues in the country – the International Film Festival of India, Kolkata Film Festival and International Film Festival of Kerala.
Capturing the audience with the story of ‘Kenjira’, a tribal girl whose dreams of learning is failed by the system, is the story of many a tribal children who have witnessed their dreams getting crushed. In director Manoj Kana’s words, the movie is a depiction of the life of Paniyas in Wayanad which he was witness to for two decades.
“The situations addressed in the movie, the rejection they face from the society is something that I have come across myself. All machineries of the society fails them,” he says.“The film was well received at all the festivals. It was Manghat Foundation that came forward to help us complete the post production works of the movie that made this screening possible,” Kana adds. The movie was completed with a budget of `1 crore.
Almost all actors in the movie are members of the Paniya community. The film expense increase was due to live recording that was necessitated due to the difficulty in dubbing in their language. Manoj Kana had earlier directed the award winning films Chayilyam and Amoeba.
However, his ‘independent’ story telling brings in the financial concerns. “The industry works in a different way. The producers would require some compromises. However, I want to tell the story in my way without compromises. I focus on the content than the commercial elements. This is why we approach the public for funding rather than producers,” said Manoj. Manoj is planning to send the movie to the censor board by December 31. Meanwhile, he is also preparing for his next venture.