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After ‘breaking the ice’, he asked the participants: “What is the difference between director P. Vasu and director Bharathiraaja? And answered the question himself. “P.Vasu’s films are 2-D cartoon films. There is no film language and what rules is heroism. But, Bharathiraaja’s are 3-D films that talk about realistic stories. For instance, the beautiful love story of a fisherman in Kadalora Kavidhaigal.”

Ram told the students, “You can make money. But, don’t send a wrong message.” Read short-stories, said Ram, and asked them to understand and identify the plot in a story.

The second day session took them to the next level on how to develop a character in a film.

“Now, you know how to choose a character, the geographical area, and a plot. When you have all these elements — story, hero and heroine — all you need to do is use the film language and narrate the story in an interesting way,” he explained. And gave an example.

“A boy goes to Mumbai for a livelihood. He finds a job as a waiter and struggles to eke out a living. He lives in a rented room, where he takes a glass of milk everyday for himself. But, a cat always drinks up the milk. The boy decides to kill the cat. When someone notices blood trickling out of his room, she opens the door. The cat jumps out and the boys lies dead in a pool of blood.”

This story could be presented either from the hotel owner’s point of view, or even from the cat’s view, suggested Ram and explained how, “You could begin with keeping the camera at knee level.” There was a screening of Katradhu Tamizh and screenplays of movies of M.T.Vasudevan Nair, were read out. There was even cricket. “To help you understand the importance of team work. And, if you want to make it big in films, patience too,” he added.

Deepan (of Hello FM) and a film buff said, “He summed up 10 years of experience in three days. It was enriching.”

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