'Yazh' has many firsts

After 14 years of struggle, M.S. Anand, a Tamilian settled in Australia who has won awards for his sensitive short films, is finally making it to the commercial screens. He has completed a full-fledged Tamil movie titled Yazh which is set in Sri Lanka. The movie is about Sri Lankan Tamil culture based on the ancient Tamil musical instrument Yazh. The story is set during the last ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and is about characters that belong to the Yazh culture and what happens to them during the last stages of the war.

“Yazh has a contemporary subject focusing on the forgotten, ancient culture of the Tamil people,” Anand says. He adds, “what’s so different about Yazh is that the story of the romantic emotional thriller is set in Sri Lanka and shot fully there. And I guess, it is the first time in Kollywood. Also most of my cast and crew most in various capacities like actors, co-directors and lyricists are Sri Lankan Tamils.  The entire film will have dialogues and lyrics in Eelam Tamil for the first time. I have also attempted a screenplay tool which is new to Tamil cinema audiences.”

Vinod and Sashi play the male leads and Misha, and Leema Babu with child artiste Rakshana form the female characters of Yazh, which had its trailer launch recently.