The pains of making a film on cancer

THIRUANANTHAPURAM: The very idea was as cinematic as it can ever be. A group of youngsters, who have never known each other before, meet in a film camp. On the final day of the camp, one among them comes up with the idea of a film. The rest readily agrees and part with a promise to raise the required money for their film. Eight months pass by and the pals keep their promise and meet again with the script and money. Two days of production and a week-long post production work, the youngsters realise their dream.Thus runs the ‘behind the screen tale’ of a short-film titled ‘Daivathinte Noolpavakal’, a film on cancer patients which has been produced by a batch of college students. The preview of the film will be held at Kalabhavan theatre here on August 26.The credit list of the film leaves the producer column blank simply because of the long list. The major contributor is the director himself, Arun A R, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, who even forsake his engineering studies to do catering and other minor jobs to raise Rs 25,000.The other men even went a step further. Wilson B and Sudeep P T, both hailing from Idukki, sold tapioca, pepper and other agricultural yield which they cultivated themselves to shell out Rs 10,000.Another crew member Sabin Das, an undergraduate from Kozhikode, somehow managed to give his share of Rs 8000."Sabin Das does not even have electric supply at his home. But he took up all sorts of jobs to make sure that he also contributed,’’ says Arun, who has now joined Mar Ivanios college as a visual communication student after quitting engineering studies in the second year.It was Arun who broached the idea of a film at the end of the camp held in the capital about eight months ago. He had a story drawn in his mind about the cancer patients. The boy kept calling his friends reminding them that they should meet again in the capital with their money within six months after they had parted.The boys did meet and the twist in the tale happened when television cameraman Kalliyoor Jayachandran chanced upon the boys who could then bring serial artiste Valiyasala Ramesh to do the lead role. The film also has a big surprise in the form of Kailasehwar, the little boy coming from the family of Kottarakara Sreedharan Nair. Kailaseshwar plays a cancer-afflicted patient in the film.