Winning top film honours

Two filmmakers from the state have made a mark in the fraternity by clinching two of the most prestigious awards, and they have a story that is worth listening to

Risking his life for the film
Imagine shooting for months in the dangerous mines of Meghalaya and not knowing if you will make it back alive. Director, producer, cinematographer and co-editor Chandrasekhar Reddy’s debut feature-length documentary on mining, Fireflies in the Abyss, won the Best Non-feature Film Award at the National Awards ceremony this year. Chandrasekhar, who has also shot for National Geographic Asia, Discovery Asia and United Nations Development Programme, has been making documentaries since 10 years. While Chandrasekhar’s family is from Nellore, he has settled in Bengaluru. His award-winning movie is about a 11 year-old boy who fights his way out of a life in the coal mines, to educate himself.

“I was in Meghalaya for another project, when I discovered the rat-hole coal mining in the area, and how children work there. I knew that I had to make a full-length movie on this, and not just a short film. People in the mines don’t want you to be there with a camera! I had to be very careful and couldn’t take a huge crew along with me, so I handled direction, camera and sound by myself,” he says. The miners didn’t know he was making a movie until he was caught with the footage.

“I spent six months in the mines and my life was threatened. I had lost my footage after the shooting was done. It was found by a miner who returned it to me only after a lot of convincing. Though the miners were skeptical before, they eventually accepted me,” says Chandrasekhar, who took the help of others only for post-production. Talking about the challenges he faced, he says,

“Funding for the movie was really tough. I raised funds through various mediums as funding for documentaries in India is negligible. While I was shooting, my face was black and I started looking like a miner too. But after the response the film received, I’m glad I did it. My friends and family are so happy.”

The guerrilla filmmaker is happy that a documentary is being appreciated by all. “Non-feature films are not boring and I think Fireflies in the Abyss proved that,” he says. He now plans to make engaging and non-commercial movies in Telugu.

Touching many hearts
Dhanak won a national award in the category of Best Children’s Film, and the movie’s producer, Elahe Hiptoola and director Nagesh Kukunoor are ecstatic.

“Nagesh and I have worked together in 14 films,” says Elahe, and adds, “Though the movie was was premiered at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival and won an award, there is nothing like winning in your own country.”

The film stars siblings Pari (Hetal Gada) and Chotu (Krrish Chhabria), who toss a coin before they walk to school to decide who tells a story on the way. Pari tells stories about Shah Rukh Khan and visually-impaired Chotu talks about Salman Khan. “Shah Rukh saw the teaser and tweeted about it. We thought of casting him too, and he agreed to be part of it. But, we realised that if he had done that, it would be all about him and not about the kids,” says Elahe.

Talking about the challenges, she says, “We shot at 480C in Rajasthan and there were sand storms too. It was also low-budget. But, the kids were great. We made sure that they did their homework on the sets.”