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Little man’s big effort
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Kishen Shrikanth created a record by becoming the youngest director on the planet. NIKHIL VARMA talks to the 14-year-old who is now working on his second film
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PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K.
THUS SPAKE KISHEN Film making involves much work and responsibility
The camera has played a very important part in Kishen Shrikanth’s life. He started acting at the age of three and became the youngest director on the planet, when he directed a feature film, “C/o Footpath” at the age of 10.
The 14-year-old has acted in more than 30 films, 300 TV series and is currently involved in the post production of his next directorial venture.
“When I was acting, I was very curious about the finer aspects of cinema. I used to talk to the directors, the assistants and camera persons about camera angles, shot selection etc. Those sessions not only enhanced my knowledge of the industry and the technical aspects of making a film, but also increased my confidence levels.”
Kishen feels that the story is the most important aspect of any movie. “You need a strong storyline for a good movie. You can be technically perfect and yet make a bad movie.
The movie, ‘C/o Footpath’ is based on an incident that occurred when I was seven years old. Once when I was going to school, I saw a group of street children and felt that they also deserved to be educated and should go to school. I decided to make a film that chronicles the life of a child, who lives on the streets and eventually manages to secure education. I believed that it would serve as a source of inspiration to those children.”
The movie, released in Kannada received great reviews and over the past few years has bagged many awards and platitudes from across the world.
“I was helped by many people in the making of the movie. I was honoured when stars like Jackie Shroff and Saurabh Shukla also acted in the movie. It was a pleasure directing stalwarts like them. I enjoyed the experience thoroughly.”
Kishen contends that direction is more difficult than acting. “As an actor, you can deliver your dialogues, shoot the sequence and be done with it. On the other hand, as director, you are the captain of the ship. You need to oversee the shooting, check the shots and camera angles, help with the editing, re-shoot the bad shots etc. It involves much more work and responsibility. You need to have a good idea on what you want to portray on screen.”
He dismisses any similarities with the Oscar winning film, “Slumdog Millionaire” and “C/o Footpath”. “I made this movie in 2006 and though a child from the streets plays a central role in both films, they are both very different in all other aspects.”
He manages to balance his studies and film responsibilities well. “As of now, I have never faced any problems and have managed to secure the second or third rank in my class regularly. If I miss any classes, I get help from my classmates and my teachers. I will however take a break from direction in class ten. I plan to attend the film institute in Hollywood.”
With much of his time consumed by making or acting in movies or in his studies, he does not get much time to catch up on films.
“I have watched very few films in the past few years. I enjoyed watching ‘Chak De’ and ‘Lage Raho’ I feel that these movies have heralded a new era in Bollywood, with the script and story playing a very important role. Both the movies were extremely well made and were also successful commercially.”
Stephen Spielberg is Kishen’s favourite director. “I have been inspired by his movies a great deal. I like the fact the he makes movies that break all conventions. None of his movies are similar to each other.
The manner in which he deals with all the elements in his movies is indeed spectacular.
He has been a pioneer of sorts, as far as Hollywood is concerned.” He is presently focused on finishing the pre-production work for his next movie, whose production shall start soon.
“It is a movie about teenagers and the issues they face. I hope it will also elicit a positive response from the audience.”
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