The lost milkweed dreams

Is there anyone who, as a child, wasn’t attracted to a milkweed (Appoppanthadi), catching hold of it, blowing it away and watching it disappear! For Shivaprasad K.V, every milkweed that comes to one’s palm and flies away unexpectedly are the dreams the person wanted to fulfill but could never. He directly connected these shattered dreams to a long-lost love which forms the storyline of his short film Appoppanthadi. 

Though there are many short films that revolves around love, Appoppanthadi touches you because as Sivaprasad puts it, “When we lose a milkweed, we know very well that it will never return and we won’t get it back. But even then, our heart keeps on wishing for it and grieves for it. Lost love is also exactly the same. Appoppanthadi is a reminiscent tale of loss narrated through bottled up memories and emotions that rewinds before us in a different colour and flavor as we grow older.”

The seamlessness and ease with which Sivaprasad has captured these feelings has made this young film maker win 53 national and international awards of which most of them are for the best short film and eight, for the best director. The short film also received a special jury mention at the Dhaka International Film Festival. 

However, he hadn’t planned a YouTube release for Appoppanthadi. “Every film has an apt way to be watchedbased on its concept and presentation. Some movies are meant to be watched in theatres, whereas some should be watched only on a laptop. I also had inhibitions if peoplewould like something that lacks youthfulness even though it talks about love and the life of a group of elders. Moreover, it is a 26-minute short film, whic might not seem appealing to many who might not have the patience to watch a short film this long. However, many who watched it asked me to release it on YouTube so that more could experience it.  I thought a celebrity release would give it more popularity,” says

Sivaprasad, whose third short film was released on Youtube by director Lal Jose on Sunday has received 8000 likes so far. Apart from making short films, he has also assisted Arun Kumar Aravind in Left Right left and One By Two, is currently working on the upcoming movie Ladoo.