Expat life on screen

MOVIE-MAKING friends Ajith Nair and Krishnan Haridas are looking forward to the release of their debut offering next month - the first full-length Malayalam feature film to be made in Bahrain.

Nilavu, which was made with a budget of only BD30,000, means 'moonlight' in English, and depicts the emotional complexities of expatriate life in the Gulf. It is scripted and directed by Ajith and co-produced by Haridas.

Ajith, 38, said: "Delving deep into the psyche of the Indian community, Nilavu, through a strong supporting cast, captures the dreams, desires and aspirations of the migrants and families in the backdrop of the cultural ethos of Bahrain.

"The movie and its theme will also strike a chord with many non-resident Indians who will be able to relate to the nostalgia portrayed in this film."

The film tells the story of a young, migrant worker called Hari, portrayed by Haridas, who leaves his hometown in Kerala in the hope of finding a better life in Bahrain. His solitude and search for emotional support leads him to Lakshmi, played by Sunita Nedungadi, a lonely housewife married to a distinguished businessman.

The film tells how their clandestine relationship evolves, exploring human emotions and the different shades of love, perception and expectation.

Ajith, from Salmaniya, says it is quite unique for a movie to focus on the life of an Indian expat housewife and her issues of loneliness - having to fend for herself in a strange land as her husband carves out a successful business career.

He said: "Everyone speaks about the hard-working husbands but the women who move here are often stuck at home, forgotten and only identified by their nine-digit CPR number."

Ajith says he was inspired to write the script by the numerous tales of heartache and intrigue he had encountered from fellow expatriates and at first thought it had the makings for a short film.

However, that soon changed as work developed on the project. "The subject matter was so vast, complicated and riveting that it deserved the extra screen time."

Lead actor Haridas, 37, from Adliya, met Ajith at the Cinergy Short Film festival in 2008 and their friendship grew and they decided to team up for the movie project.

Most of the filming was carried out in Bahrain with local cast members and equipment and the crew made only two trips to Kerala for additional material.

Ajith, who has a senior role in a corporate movie production company, said: "We needed a few shots in India to capture scenes featuring the main character's ancestral home but everything else was filmed in Bahrain.

"We began on January 2 and it proved to be the start of a strenuous shooting period since we were all working in different full-time jobs and could only concentrate on this project at weekends. And, to complicate matters, a couple of the locations we chose could only be accessed during the night for a limited period of time."

Haridas had his fair share of challenges too. For example, he had to juggle between an unkempt, rustic look for the movie role and the more staid, professional image as a financial manager. He said: "If there was a meeting scheduled at work, I could not afford to go in with a long beard and so I would shave. That meant waiting for a week with no shooting for my beard to grow again!

"The biggest challenge for me as an actor was to accommodate the emotions of an introvert whereas in real life I am far from it!"

Ajith said: "We have featured most of the landmarks of Bahrain like the skyline of Manama and its streets as well as the Zallaq Beach which will give global audiences a flavour of the island's magnetism."

The film features two songs sung by renowned Indian stars K S Chitra and Venugopal. The music director is Reji Gopinath and the lyrics were written by Ajith.

The duo's next step is to work out a distribution deal and discussions and negotiations are currently underway with Indian TV channels and DVD distributors.

"Our music has already been launched through YouTube and we received great feedback. We are also planning to promote it further through social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook," Ajith added.

THE TEAM

Writer, Director: Ajith Nair

Producers: Haridas and Sindhu Ajith

PRO: Nalini Vipin

Production Executive: Sherif Shaji

Assistant Directors: Ramesh, Binny

Music Director: Reji Gopinath

Plaback Singers: K S Chitra, G Vengugopal

Cinematography: Unni, Ajith Nair

Editing: Nikhil Venu

Art Direction: Sony

Costumes: Sijo

Outdoor: Salmaniya Studio

Stills: Sanu Raj

Sound Studio: Dreams Digital

Cast: Haridas, Sunitha, Sreelekha, Prashanth, Ramesh, Rajith, Suresh Karunakaran, Kamalash, Dr Babu Ramachandran, Ambilikkuttan, Sethu, Mandeep Singh, Neha, Shams, Anila, Madhu, Naresh, Gopan Pazhuvil, Suresh Babu, Sasi, Lakshmanan, Sangeetha, Velayuthan, Veeramani, Jack Sims, Sanu Raj, Mohandas, Gopal Singh.