Shreyas H S
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore 

Mangalore, Aug 11: With dedication and hard work two cine-passionate lads hailing from Mangalore have come up with a 45-minute Kannada short film 'Chitra', which is now poised for its premiere show on Daijiworld 24x7 television channel on Sunday, August 17 at 9 pm.

Scripted, directed, cinematographed and edited by Srikanth Y R, the movie is a suspense-cum-love story. It is produced by Manik Mascarenhas (22) who also is seen playing the lead role in the film. Working on a budget of Rs 2.5 lac, this team of two, despite financial hurdles, has come up with a movie that is a cut above the regular Kannada films.

The idea for this movie began as a way to showcase their talent to their friends via YouTube. Manik said that he had been bowled over by the excellence of the script that Srikanth narrated to him and he felt that it easily matched the standards of any movie produced by the Sandalwood industry.

Initially the idea had been to make a nice movie and to upload it on YouTube in order to gauge the responses they would receive as well as share their talent with their friends. But the journey seems to have really impacted destination for the duo.

Manik who passed out of Trinity Guild Hall London (Mangalore) had been inclined towards getting into business but says that this venture has helped him realise he would much rather follow his heart and go for movie-making. They are grateful for the support they received from Fr Richard D'souza, director, Canara Communication Centre, of Mangalore diocese. The duo impressed their financers with their story narration abilities.

With confidence pouring in, the duo set out to create the movie. Once the team had been handpicked by Manik and Srikanth, they all toiled hard for the next six months to make a movie that would capture the imagination of the audience. Their team comprises ten people who worked behind the scenes with the technical requirements as well as onscreen.

The plot is based on two female and one male character and deals with the drawbacks faced by men in their choice of women. Srikanth says the movie conveys an imporant message, and would leave a strong impression on the audience with its twists and turns of plot usually associated with commercial cinema.

Manik and Srikanth believe this movie to be their sincere endeavour towards opening up avenues for amateur movie makers who would rather release their work on YouTube instead of on a television channel. They also expressed concerns that there were people out there who were unable to showcase their incredible talent due to financial pressures. Many a dream they felt had been sacrificed for lack of financial support. Their movie is also an attempt to pass on the message to other like-minded people, that motivation, dedication and confidence would help them to reach out and get help from interested parties and thereby realise their dreams.

Here's toasting to the success of this sincere enterprise as well as hoping for future ventures from the many latent talents of our country.

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