I didn’t want to make a ‘kid’s film’: Akshay Indikar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Marathi film ‘Sthalpuran’ (Chronicle of Space), one of the much-applauded films at the 25th IFFK, paints the portrait of a despondent young boy. Akin to visual poetry, the film recreates an innocent boy’s journey towards understanding the harsh realities of life.When asked his view on making such a contemplative cinema, during a question and answer session on Friday, Akshay Indikar, the director, writer, editor and sound designer of the film, said: “I did not want to make a ‘kid’s film’, but one that shows real life elements through a child’s perspective. For a kid, the realities are hard to decipher. Hence, blurry elements were added.”

On his treatment of village stories, he said cinema is not just about human emotions. “Everything we sense around us can be a character. Nature is the essence of every village. The lush green surroundings, rain, flow of wind and the distant reverberation of bells tied around cattle, all add to this. I wanted to explore more, by showing the beauty of villages through my frames and soundscapes,” he said.

The film’s sound design plays an integral role in taking the protagonist forward. Indikar opined, “What we see on screen is two dimensional. But sound is something we can feel. All our senses react to it.”On working with a child artist, Akshay said Neel Deshmukh, the lead actor, was easy to collaborate with. “He is a child brought up in a similar background and the homework for his acting was quite easy,” he said.

Akshay never read the whole script to him, but narrated the story and documented whatever he was doing. 
Bina Paul moderated the question and answer session. The Marathi drama, which had its world premiere at Berlinale (Berlin Film Festival), will be competing with 13 other films for ‘Suvarna Chakoram at IFFK. The film will have its second screening at Tagore theatre at 5pm on Saturday.