2004: A Sirgazhi-bred Arun passes out of the acclaimed New York Film Academy, feeding on internationally acclaimed films from countries smaller than India. He tells himself Tamil films of that ilk, 'Mudhal Mariyadhai' to mention one, deserve the same appreciation, and promises to put genuine Tamil films in the international map for movies.
2009: After completing shoot of his first Tamil full-length feature 'Achchamundu! Achchamundu'!, and five trips to India from New Jersey in less than two years, Arun Vaidyanathan is set to see his film 'Achchamundu! Achchamundu!' compete with over 60 other international films in the Shangai Film Festival in the panorama category, with the jury consisting of director Danny Boyle. The festival will be held in June.
“The film is a psychological thriller set in the US, and has Sneha and Prasanna in the lead. They play abroad-settled Indians, sans the clichés we associate with NRIs,” begins the filmmaker, who is in town currently to launch the audio of the film, slated for May 15. “Also, for the first time, a real Hollywood actor, Emmy Award winning John Shea, is playing a crucial role in this film,” Arun chuckles.
The film, shot entirely in the US, only recently won the Best Homegrown Feature Film at the Garden State Film Festival. The film, which was shot in less than a month, is all set for a June release. It is being produced by Project East West by Srinivasan Perumal, Ananth Govindan, Asma Hashmi, Ramzan Lakhani and Arun Vaidyanathan himself. "The film is not just the result of the vision of one man who wrote the story, but that coupled with his group of producers who have believed in it," says the filmmaker. And going by the film's international run so far, it surely is paying off.
'Over 40 percent of the film is silent'
Director Arun Vaidyanathan says silence, more than speech, is effective in a thriller, and the film has used it to the hilt. In fact, like Mysskin's 'Nandalala', 'AchchamunduAchchamundu', will also have a good 45 minutes of silence.
Music for the film is by Karthik Raja. "The film has two songs, and I had not cut them out whilst sending the film for international festivals. They aren't regular lip sync songs, and Karthikraja's background score will be a highlight of the film," says Arun, who has made carnatic vocalist Sowmya sing for a film for the first time
'First Tamil film using Red camera'
'Achchamundu! Achchamundu!' will be the first Tamil film to be shot using the Red One Camera. Kamal Haasan's 'Unnaipol Oruvan' also uses the same HD, low cost camera.
The film has also been shot with live sound, thus requiring 15 days of practise prior to the actual shoot. "It has taken a lot of effort for all, including Sneha and the child artiste, to speak fluently," recalls Arun
The international connection and star cast
"While I am in awe of the storytelling culture in the East, I wanted to combine it with the advanced filmmaking techniques prevalent in the Western countries. We hired a casting director and a big cast and crew of our film has Hollywood actors and technicians," explains Arun.
Marti D. Humphrey, an acclaimed sound mixer for Hollywood films like the Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Grudge, has worked as sound rerecording mixer for AA
First Indian film colour corrected in Plaster City
The discerning eye will observe the colours in the film as special, vouches Arun.
'Achchamundu! Achchamundu!' is the first Indian film to be colour corrected in Plaster City, Los Angeles.
"Colour correction has not been done for the sake of it. There are subtle differences that the DI process can bring, and that's why it is an important part of any film's post production work," Arun says
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