Malayalam film to be launched through crowd funding

Kochi: In a first such initiative in the Malayalam film industry, a movie `Oraalpokkam`, is being launched through the funding from crowd.

The shooting of the film is expected to begin by next week, its director Sanalkumar Sasidharan and actor Prakash Bare said. "It is a collective effort to create a Malayalam movie with a global outlook. Defying the popular concept that a film is a medium to narrate stories, we try to explore the possibilities of the medium`s capabilities to give a poetic and magical experience to viewers," said Bare, who is actively involved in Malayalam theatre and film-making as an actor and producer. Bare has acted in over 10 Malayalam films, including the lead role in `Sufi Paranja Katha` (2010) and has produced `Papilo Buddha` (2013) `Ivan Megharoopam` (2012), `Janak` (2011) besides `Sufi Paranja Katha`. The resources for the film will be raised by `Springr`, which is a crowd funding platform and community building tool for creative projects and ideas. Springr CEO Abhinav Sree said "Crowd funding is a way for motivated makers to access funding beyond official channels by talking directly to consumers, fans, peer and the like-minded strangers." Crowdfunding was in vogue abroad and in Indian cities of Mumbai and Bangalore. Those who want to contribute for the making of the film can log on to www.Springr.Me. The film`s budget is Rs 30 lakh and while 10 per cent has already been mobilised, the remaining would be raised through crowd funding route, he said. Well-known poet, fiction writer and activist Meena Kandasamy will be making her acting debut in the film. Besides Meena, Bikramjit Gupta, a promising young director from West Bengal, who had directed many short movies and documentaries which has been exhibited in various film festivals across the globe, will also be making his debut as actor. His first full length movie `Achal` (The Stagnant) has been officially selected to various International film festivals. Krishnan Balakrishnan, a well know theatre and film artiste, who was part of critically acclaimed films like `Nalu Pennungal (Four Women) directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan and `Kutti Srank` directed by Shaji N Karun, is also essaying a role. The `Kazhcha Film Forum`, launched by a group of youngsters about a decade ago, is making the film. It has so far made three short films - `The Wonder World`, `Parole` and `Frog`. According to Abhinav, Springr provides the platform for project creators to present their ideas to a connected audience worldwide.