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I Am because of Facebook

United cause Top: Onir directing Juhi Chawla in I am Megha. Right top: Rahul Bose and Arjun Mathur in I am Omar; (bottom) Sanjay Suri and Radhika Apte in I am Abhimanyu

Onir of “My Friend Nikhil” fame, has just left for the US on an invitation to screen his latest film “I AM” at several universities. And to think that the film has not even been completed!

Well, it’s like this: “I AM” is an anthology of four films. Three have been completed and the fourth is to be shot shortly. This new trend that has caught on is changing the way people view cinema.

Adoor tried it twice, now Ranjit has just released his “Kerala Café” and Onir, with Sanjay Suri, has produced this movie, under the banner of Anticlock Films. People from 23 countries have cooperated to make this film possible, all through Facebook, reveals Onir. He took on this effort after “Bas Ek Pal” and “Sorry Bhai”.

Onir is thrilled about his trip to New York. “It’s a sneak preview of the finished parts that will be shown there and it will be followed by discussions with the audiences about the issues dealt with,” he says in a telephonic interview.

The burning issues in these films are highly topical and based on real life stories, but subjects that few would deal honestly with: “I am Abhimanyu” deals with child abuse. “I am Omar” speaks of the way the police gang up with male sex workers to abuse gays. “I am Megha” is about the plight of Kashmiri Pundits.

These three films have been shot in Bangalore, Mumbai and Kashmir. “Afia”, yet to be filmed, deals with corruption among NGO outfits. “It will be shot later this year at Kolkata and the film will be released next year,” Onir says.

Facebook is of course the real big star of “I AM”. “It may be the first such film that is being made this way, through help from members of Facebook,” feels Onir. One is reminded of John Abraham who did it more than two decades ago, making “Amma Ariyaan” through money from friends and well wishers. “Almost 300 people have volunteered with money or talent for ‘I AM’.

And these are people from 23 countries, all through Facebook, from US, London, Nigeria and there are some Austrian students also who want to help.”

“Ninety per cent of the actors are doing it free. Anurag Kashyap even bought his own flight ticket,” says Onir. Juhi Chawla, Rahul Bose, Abhimanyu Singh, Arjun Mathur are all part of the cast.

You too can co-own this film. How? Drop an email to anticlockfilms@gmail.com. “The entire budget is just Rs. 1.5 crore, of which Rs. 50 lakh came through the Net. Juhi Chawla put in money too and then we need only Rs. 25,000 more,” says Onir.

Screenplay is by Merle Kroeger and Onir, cinematography by Arvind Kannabiran, and still photography is by Thulasi Kakkat from Kerala. Bent upon coming out with the film by April next year, the never say die Onir is confident about the subjects of his anthology of films being current and truthful.

After all, the man from Bhutan, Onirban (he changed his name to Onir when he came to Mumbai) means a fire that does not burn out. Apt name.

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