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A celebration of life

A bunch of engineering students says life could be a Thiruvizha for their fellow-youth if they know how to give vent to their feelings and creativity, writes K. JESHI

PHOTO: M PERIASAMY

PATHFINDERS Showing the way

These youngsters strike a fine balance between studies and social responsibility.

Three years of brainstorming sessions during weekends and New Year was born, a 25-minute short-film.

"The film is all about the power of youth," say the engineering students of VLB Janakiammal College of Technology and Engineering.

The film traces the journey of three unemployed youth who become friends and then successful entrepreneurs.

"Many youngsters get depressed during their job hunt, when they fail to land their dream jobs. But, most of them fail to consider entrepreneurship as an option," says T.R. Vijayanand, an alumnus of the college.

Part of the team, he has shown the way by setting up S6teen Limited Technologies (I) Pvt Ltd that specialises in web designing, multimedia solutions, software solutions, education and training. Now, he is a CEO.

A question answered

`Why can't you give jobs to others?' It is this question by a young businessman in the film that motivates the unemployed youth to start a software company.

"Our film also conveys the message that the physically challenged are a part of our society. As entrepreneurs, they provide an opportunity for a physically challenged person marking a new beginning, a new year for him," adds R.P. Shivakumar, final year Computer Science student and director of the film.

The objective of these students is to inspire the youth to contribute something worthwhile to society.

"Because of societal pressures, youngsters are not willing to take any risk and want safe jobs. They fail to explore their latent talents. We want to create awareness on such issues through our films," says Vijayanand.

Tech savvy

For them, success is recognition of their talent, ideas and concepts. They say technology has made filmmaking, a more flexible medium, to transfer ideas into reality.

"As engineers, understanding the technology in areas such as editing, multimedia and computer graphics becomes easy," they add.

To keep the project going, they have floated a company 7th Sense (www.get7thsense.com) .

The website will also identify and feature profiles of achievers in school and colleges regularly.

The film launched in February this year has already created an impact among thousands of students across colleges in Coimbatore, Salem, Trichy and Chennai.

A responsive audience

"We also screened the movie at Kallaampalayam village near Perur and were amazed at the response. The villagers were happy that we touched upon the relevant issue of unemployment instead of subjects like romance and violence," Vijayanand adds.

Caring for orphans, illiteracy, poverty, old age ... are some of the issues in their mind.

"Our approach is to make movies with a mix of comedy, entertainment and a message," explains J. Balasubramaniam, final year ECE student.

In the process, they want to identify aspiring talents and give them an opportunity to hog the limelight.

Their second mega project, Thiruvizha (at a budget of Rs. 3.5 lakhs), a musical album on youth and celebration, is under way.

Going commercial

"This is purely a commercial venture and we have planned five songs, out of which videos will be shot for two. Music will be western, folk and other melodies," says Shivakumar.

The album will launch R.Vijayanand, a sound engineering student from an Australian University, as the music director.

R. Parthiben (ECE student) will co-ordinate public relations, M.Rajesh (civil) will be one of the singers.

Providing opportunities

"We want to give opportunities to other budding singers too," adds G.T.Rajesh (CSE), who takes the responsibility of getting sponsors.

Thiruvizha is set to hit the market on January 1, 2007.

The friends meet on Sundays, discuss movies, analyse scripts and take decisions on their projects. "As youngsters, we understand the feelings of the youth in a better way and are confident about winning in our endeavour. New Year is just a beginning," they add.

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