KOCHI: For Abhi S, growing up in Chengalchoola slum in a less-privileged family wasn’t an excuse to keep away from following his passion for movie editing and cinematography. Even when he had to drop out of a course he enrolled in to study the craft because it was hard to afford, he kept going. His mother sold her only gold chain and got him a smartphone, and that priceless gift was the beginning of Abhi’s story of unmatched grit and passion.
He started capturing videos on the phone and learned editing from YouTube tutorials. With his friends at Rajaji Nagar, Abhi would remake fight sequences and songs from the film Ayan, one of his favourite offerings from actor Surya. His remake of the song Pala Pala became viral on YouTube, and even caught the eye of MP Shashi Tharoor, who took to his social media page to applaud Abhi. The three-minute-long video with adept dance steps and tasteful videography and editing impressed netizens. Abhi’s hard work paid off when the team received a congratulatory message from actor Suriya himself.
For the past few months, Abhi walks 2km every day from his newly-rented house in Kannettumukku to meet his team. The seventeen-year-old goes around the slum on location hunts before the shoot. “Within the two acres of the slum, I found places that are similar to the movie’s set up,” he says. The budding filmmaker had multiple roles to accomplish to complete his video, including guiding his team around the dance practice.
“As everything was shot with limited resources we have, there were no other expenses other than coordinating the shoot at Veli beach. My friends were supportive of the project,” he says. Karthik S, one of the dancers in Abhi’s video is overjoyed with how the project turned out. “Our parents are also happy that Rajaji Nagar came to the spotlight because of our efforts,” he says.