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All in just a minute

MAKING IT SHORT Sanjay Nambiar

He trained in the art of film-making in Chicago at The Community Film Workshop. But Sanjay Nambiar started off as a mathematician! He was so keen on this subject that he took off to Russia to study it further.

To “take a break” during holidays he started to travel. His travel experiences “were so good” that he decided to become a writer. So he took up a job as a journalist with the India Tribune. Then it was still photography that caught his eye.

“I realised that the next logical step was to combine both these skills. So I took to film-making. I met Jim Taylor, while doing an interview with him. He taught me film making,” recalls Sanjay.

During his 15-year stay in the US, he made his first documentary on Bharathanatyam called ‘Dance Celestial.’

“Film making is demanding. I quit my job and worked as a taxi driver at nights to fund my film ‘Yanam.’ “The film is shot entirely on water and the protagonist is a boat, which talks and sings. But not many could associate with the boat as the main character and the film was restricted to film festivals. Even distributors were hesitant to involve themselves for they only look to packed houses and not the story or the quality of films,” observes Sanjay.

Sanjay does not want to get into mainstream film making. “Why can’t we tell a story about a sugar cane farmer who burnt himself with his crops? And you don’t need three hours to show his despair.”

But how can you say a story effectively in a minute? “Look at jingles. They are not only telling a story but also selling a product! If Anton Chekov can narrate a story in four pages then we can definitely make a film in two minutes.”

Sanjay’s short films ‘Yanam,’ ‘Bindi’ and ‘Balkrishna’ can be viewed on www.filmcamp.tv .

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