I consider my people’s praises as my film’s biggest award: Chezhiyan

One of Tamil cinema’s finest cinematographers, Chezhiyan, who is known for his work in critically accalimed superhits like Kalloori, Thenmerkku Paruvakaatru, Paradesi and Joker, has turned director with To Let, a film which is all set to hit screens on February 21.

To Let has been receiving a lot of critical acclaim even before its release, thanks to the number of awards it has been winning in both the National and International circuits.

In fact, the film has been screened in over a 100 international festivals in a single year and has won around 32 International Awards. It has been recommended for an award at least 80 times.

So, what is To Let all about? Why is this film garnering praises from film critics all around the world.

Says director Chezhiyan, “The growth of the IT sector in Tamil Nadu in general and in Chennai in particular has resulted in a situation where finding a house for rent has become a problem. This is especially true in the case of middle class families, who are affected the most by this problem. To Let is about the life of one such middle-class person who struggles to find a home for rent.”

To a question on why the film has taken a considerable while to hit screens, Chezhiyan says, “Generally speaking, it takes about a year to make a full-length feature film here. This film has taken another year to participate in International film festivals. That is all. As we feel this is the appropriate time to release it, we are releasing it in theatres now.”

The director lamented that here, there was this tendency among quite a few people to look down upon films that had small budgets, especially those that had participated in International film festivals.

“If Malayalam or Bengali films win a National Award, the state governments there, in a bid to motivate such filmmakers, award them cash prizes of Rs 25 lakh or 40 lakh or a home. No such luck here. Maybe, When 10 films like To Let get made in a year, then National Award winning films might start getting noticed here as well,” says Chezhiyan.

The cinematographer turned director points out that there was no need to sideline his film by terming it as an art film just for the sake of it having participated in International film festivals.

“In fact, this is a proper commercial film. When you make a film within the budget, you are sure to make profits,” says Chezhiyan, who goes on to elaborate.

“What many do not know is that when you take such movies to International Film Festivals, you have double the benefit. On the one hand, you tend to raise the standard of Tamil cinema. On the other, you can ensure that you recover the money you invested in making the film even before its release,” says Chezhiyan, who recalls what well known filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan once said.

“Malayalam film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan used to say that it was enough if he had 50 lakhs to make a film. He was confident he would make 10 crores out of the film. How he could do that was by doing exactly this. Participating in an International film festival and winning awards don’t just win laurels for the film and establish its credibility. They go much beyond that and help it financially too,”Chezhiyan points out.

The director also points out that even if the film does not win an award at an international film festival, there was a good chance of those from television channels, who realise that the film has good content, from approaching them for rights to telecast it on their channel once. “There are scores of such channels all across the world. Many here are unaware of such a business possiblity itself,” he says.

The director says that a producer, with whom he discussed the possibility of making this film, had proposed that they do it with a big hero and on a big budget. “However, I was not interested in such a proposal. I did not want to experiment using another person’s money. That is why my wife herself produced this film.”

Chezhiyan says,”I consider the praises my people shower on my film, which has won Awards the world over, as its biggest award. Therefore, I am waiting for February 21, when my film will be screened for my people in Tamil Nadu. ”

The film features Santhosh Nambirajan, Sheela Rajkumar,Aadhira Pandilakshmi and Master Tarun Bala among others.