Review: Bioscope
Bioscope is one of a kind film. In fact, it may well be the first Tamil film to tell the story of how another film was made. It has very natural performances and organic humour that are realistic and highly enjoyable
Film: Bioscope
Cast – Sathiyaraj(special appearance),cheran(special appearance)
Sankagiri Rajkumar,Manickam,vellayammal,muththayi
Director -Sankagiri Rajkumar,
Dop – Murali Ganesh
Music Director- Tajnoor
Art Director – Martin
Producer -Chandra sooriyan, Prabhu,Periyasamy
Rating: 3 stars
Sankagiri Rajkumar, who became a director just because of his pure passion for cinema and his never-say-die spirit, proves yet again with his film, Bioscope, that where there is a will, there is a way.
Yes, the director, who, with very limited means, made his first film ‘Vengayam’, repeats the feat with ‘Bioscope’. What makes ‘Bioscope’ special is that it is the story of how he made his film ‘Vengayam’.
The plot in brief…
Rajkumar says that the idea for Bioscope was born with how two vernacular magazines described his critically acclaimed film Vengayam, which he literally made on a shoe-string budget with the help of friends and family members.
One of the magazines had said, “The very journey of making this film could be the subject matter of another film.” That sparked an idea and Rajkumar goes on to tell how he, a poor man from the rural sector with literally no money to spare, ended up making a film with his own money by using his family and neighbours as his cast and technical crew.
From making his grandfather as an assistant director and grandmothers into camerapersons, to using his sister and other relatives as actors, the director recounts in a humourous way the innumerable challenges he faced in making ‘Vengayam’.
Initally, the film starts off on a slow note and you wonder if the film is even going to be able to keep you interested but 15 minutes into the film, the story slowly begins to turn interesting as he narrates in a comical fashion the efforts he undertook to educate his elderly grandparents about cinema .
In particular, sequences involving the director’s grandparents are hilarious. Take for instance, one grandmom of Rajkumar who refuses to be just a cameraperson and demands why he alone gets to be a director. She insists that everyone must take turns getting to be a director and so she dons the director’s hat as well for a few sequences. All her portions are outright funny.
While a large portion of the film is funny, there are also portions which showcase his struggles to generate funds to carry on shooting and the immense risk he undertook to complete the film.
The film also goes on to show how middlemen cheated him and how good hearted film industry professionals like Cheran came to his aid.
Bioscope is one of a kind film. In fact, it may well be the first Tamil film to tell the story of how another film was made. It has very natural performances and organic humour that are realistic and highly enjoyable.
The film’s making might be pretty ordinary but that is understandable considering the fact that a poor man with limited means shot this film on a simple camera he bought by selling the livestock owned by his family.
Bioscope is a story of hope and determination. It might not be outstanding in terms of presentation but it has a lot of heart and needs to be celebrated just for the spirit of its makers. This is a good film that deserves your attention and time.
