KOCHI: Mohan Raghavan, who is just back from the US where his film T D Dasan Std VI B bagged the award for the best screenplay at the 11th New York Indian Film Festival, says the state award is definitely a confident booster though he is not overwhelmed by the accolade.
Mohan, whose film fetched him the state award for the best debutant director, adds that he is feeling a bit low at this moment of glory as the child artist who brilliantly portrayed the title character was not considered for state and national awards.
"Master Alexander is a genuine talent who was left unacknowledged," he says.
The film has been screened at a number of national and international festivals and received some major awards like John Abraham Award, Film Critics Award and FEFKA Awrad.
In June the film will be screened at the Shanghai Film Festival. But the filmmaker insists that it was definitely a film made for the masses. "T D Dasan is not a film tailormade for festivals and award committees. I don't believe in stretching silences and adding other accessories to make a film acceptable at offbeat circuits. I didn't make any compromise, even with the song sequence while making the film," he says.
He says he had approached a couple of directors with the script of T D Dasan, but nobody found the storyline appealing. He also adds that it was really unfortunate that the film could not reach minimum audience despite its critical acclaim. "By the time the audience started noticing the film it had left the theatres," he says.