Taking baby steps into films

Who does not like name, fame and money, not necessarily in that order? Tinsel town is a sure fire way to guarantee these, provided you become a success. But not everyone finds the gold at the end of the rainbow; for every success story there are a hundred stories of failure. But that does not deter youngsters from trying their luck in films. Vishnu C.B., an engineer, braved parental opposition and ventured into the world of glamour after resigning from a lucrative job to follow his dream of film making.

He is taking babysteps in his mission by scripting and directing a short film titled She with a tagline Nothing Unsaid. The 16-minute-long film looks at the cause of organ donation. But if you expect a serious, preachy film, She is certainly not that.

Vishnu says, “I have given the film a mystery, romantic, thriller treatment. Initially, the film did not have the theme of organ donation. I was stuck on a thread of what happens if we die with unrequited dreams and longings. Do we carry those longings into our next birth? After writing about 75 per cent of the script, the subject of organ donation came in to carry the story forward.”

The film was completed in five days with a crew of 12 members and the lead actors are Margrath Tomy and Bala Sankar Venugopal, who is Premam-fame actor Krishna Sankar’s elder brother.

Vishnu got hooked to film making while he was in Class XII, but like most youngsters did his engineering to satisfy his parents. He continues, “I did not want to tell my parents about my film making dreams then. While doing my engineering, I did skits and plays and after passing out, I joined a firm. My idea was to be financially stable and then set out to do films. Somewhere along the way, I realised that making a film after being financially sound would take ages, so I convinced my parents that I was on the right path, quit my job and plunged into film making.”

Vishnu, as an initial step, assisted in the film Tilothamma and while there, one of his friends Praveen assured him that he would finance Vishnu if he ever made a film. Praveen kept his promise and produced She.  “It is so difficult to get a producer for a short film and I am thankful to Praveen for bankrolling She!”   The film has Sreejith handling the camera and music by Varun Unni. The film has won the Special Jury award at the 10th Thodupuzha Film Festival. Vishnu is currently busy scripting a full-length film.