Those who are contemplating making an Odia movie must focus on story, screenplay and script as they play a vital role in making a good film, said director of Gujarati film Hellaro, Abhishek Shah, who took part in the Tarang Cine Production’s conclave, Tarang Cine Filx held in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
The session was moderated by Ranjan Satapathy, OTV creative head.
“If you have the confidence that your viewers will understand what the story is about to tell them and where it comes from, then you can go ahead with your project. But before that, just write down what you want to show on the screen. I applied the same. After doing this, when I went to the floor, I was confident about what I had to show and how. This way I made the film,” said Shah.
“Here I want to inspire those who want to make films. This (Hellaro) is my first film and it is thus made,” he said and after a pause, he added, “But yes, dedication and script are very essential.”
While giving his introduction, Shah said he started his career as an announcer at All India Radio but was always involved in theatre.
Asked if he was confident that people would like his film, Shah said, “In the Gujarat film industry, which was revived in 2013, every filmmaker is now trying to make Bollywood-type movies. But my film is different as it is a story from 1975, which revolves around so many women. Yes, it was risky. But I felt I could explain the story better on screen. I am happy that it happened as thought. Again, it is always about your confidence and conviction. It is easy to make a film which is common but it is perhaps difficult to make a film on what you like.”
The session also had two young filmmakers- ‘Cinema Bandi’ fame Vasanth Maringanti and Praveen Kandregula. While the former is the director and writer of the film, the latter is the co-writer of the flick.
“What I always believe is to make an honest film. That is very important in filmmaking. In the process of filmmaking, you will get to know whether you are making an honest film or not,” said Praveen.
When asked what type of content people have a hunger for, Vasanth said, “People’s taste hasn’t changed. But the accessibility for a lot of content has changed. People are having global content as well. So I think we should be honest to our content and shouldn’t settle down thinking we are making a film for a particular region.”