KOCHI: Art filmmaker Devaprasad Narayanan is a person who likes to think different. That could be the reason why commercial films were never his cup of tea. The Kollam-based director whose first film ‘Light’ about the life of Dalits in Kerala was released in 2014, is getting ready with his second venture titled ‘Maram Paranjathu’.
With a duration of nearly two hours, Devaprasad hopes to release the movie by mid- June. The shooting for the film has been completed and only editing and dubbing works are remaining. “The film does not have any major actor in it’s cast. ‘Maram Paranjathu’ is a children’s movie made for the older folks. It revolves around a young boy and a tree and is a fantastic tale woven between the two,” he said.
The director talks about the message in the movie. “We don’t give anything back to nature, despite it being kind to us. The movies tells us how,” he said.
The filmmaker says he has been seriously pursuing this genre for the past ten years. “After taking part in film festivals and keenly watching movies, I realised the importance of life in villages. While the lifestyle and chores are all similar in cities, each village has it’s own language and different customs. Even now, there are many villages where there is no electricity,” he said.
The director does not believe his films can bring change, however, he is confident that he can send across a message. “I don’t think that it can create a revolution. I am a person who thinks out of the mould and look for topics which give me the satisfaction,” he said. The director believes his is an unexplored subject. “The usual children’s stories which we see in movies are mostly city-based, where parents are always busy with no time for kids. I have moved away from the city, and tried to give something different,” he said.
Devaprasad’s first film ‘Light’ had actors Jagathy Sreekumar and Sai Kumar among its cast. He has also made a short film titled ‘Director’ which revolves around religion which was screened as part of the Soorya Film Festival. ‘Maram Paranjathu’ has Devaprasad’s son Budhadev essaying the lead role. The other actors are Prajitha, Manu, Vasanthan and Ambidas Karette. Jerin James is handling the camera while Sujesh S does editing. The lyrics, music, script, direction and production is by Devaprasad. Devaprasad had chosen a few kids from a school at Pathanapuram, giving them a week’s training for the film.
The plot is centred around Kollam, Pathanapuram and Ponmudi. After the film’s release, Devaprasad plans to work on his next film which will talk about the tribal population.