The work of Srinath Ramalingam, who is making his debut as a director in the Tamil film industry with Unakkenna Vennum Sollu, has already caught attention of film industry pundits and trade experts, some of whom believe that he is here to stay.
“I started off as a director of stage plays when I was 15. At 17, I flew to Florida to study filmmaking. There, from being a production assistant, painting the green room to being an editorial assistant, I’ve done it all. Then, in Hollywood, I progressed to become an art director for independent films. Finally, I was appointed the head of a division in Singapore. I decided to quit that job and return to Chennai to make films,” explains the director. His film, which is a horror story, is based on real life incidents.
“Right from the body language of the artistes, everything you see in my film will be authentic. By that, I mean everything that has been showcased in my film is either based on or inspired by real-life incidents,” adds Srinath, who goes on to explain about the plot of the film.
“My film is about a couple, who after being in a live-in relationship that sours, encounter a spirit that is trying to kill them. My film is inspired by an incident that happened in the life of a friend and his wife. All of a sudden, my friend’s wife started exhibiting behavioural changes and then, when she underwent hypnotherapy, they found the problem. I have also shown how hypnotherapy sessions really work,” explains Srinath.
He says he underwent a few sessions of hypnotherapy before showcasing it in his film. “I opted to do that to learn more about hypnotherapy because I believe that one must know completely about something before presenting it to the audience. When I did a session, I found that I had a fear of failure in cinema. There is something called a Healing Space that they used to help me get rid of my fear of failure,” says Srinath,
Deepak Paramesh plays the lead in the film. Jacqueline Prakash. Mime Gopi and Gunalan Mohan play important roles in the film. “When I was in the US, my producer, M Shanmuga Sundaram, and I were roommates. When I was about to leave, I loaned him $300. Several years later, he has repaid that gesture by producing my film,” he says with a sense of pride and gratitude.