Covid 19 has restricted the film crews to limited spaces and small locations with a minimum number of crew members. Meanwhile, young film maker Jude Anthany has shocked everyone by filming his latest movie in 38 different locations with prominent actors and more than 100 junior artists onboard. One would hardly believe that the film was actually shot during the pandemic times.
Busy markets, shopping mall, theater, cruise ship, metro train and hospital were some of the locations where Jude had shot his movie. He jokingly adds that airport is the perhaps the only place whether they haven’t shot. However, one may wonder whether the director had taken an unnecessary risk by planning elaborate shooting schedules at various locations. Jude says that they had followed all the safety protocols to film this movie. He adds that the money spent for taking proper precautions was in fact the reason why the budget of the movie had skyrocketed.
The movie titled Sara’s stars young actress Anna Ben in the lead role. It narrates the story of a young woman who isn’t interested in becoming a mother. Meanwhile, Jude is thrilled to present another female centric movie after his successful Om Shanti Oshana and Oru Muthassi Gadha.
Jude opens up to Manorama Online about his new movie and reveals the interesting twist about finding the thread for it.
Shot during the pandemic
“No one would believe that Sara’s was shot during the pandemic times. There were times when we had filmed with more than 100 junior artists. All of them were tested for Covid 19. Food was distributed in separate packets for each individual. We took all the precautions to safely complete the filming. No one tested positive for Covid 19 even after we wrapped up. It is quite unbelievable that we had shot at 38 different locations during this time,” says Jude.
Jude is happy that he could complete the filming smoothly just as they had planned. The screenplay is by Dr. Akshay Harish. The camera is cranked by Nimish Ravi. The songs are composed by Shaan Rahman while the editing is by Riyay Badar. Mohandas has done the production designing and Sameera Saneesh headed the costumes department. Make up is by Ronex Xavier.
Besides Anna Ben, Sunny Wayne, Vineeth Srinivasan, Aju Varghese, Siju Wilson and Srinda play pivotal roles.
When the lockdown had just begun, Jude had posted a message on his social media page asking movie ethusiasts to send in screenplays that could be made into feature films. His message got overwhelming response and had received around 1100 screenplays. Jude chose seven stories from them and asked the writers to develop into fully fledged screenplays. Four among them returned with the completed screenplays; Dr. Akshay Harish was one of them. However, that subject wasn’t feasible during the time. The director asked Akshay to come up with another screenplay that could be made into a movie by adhering to the Covid-1protocols. It as then that Dr. Akshay revealed an interesting thing to Jude. Akshay was a medical student at Kozhikode Medical College when Om Shanti Oshana was shot there. He had even acted as a junior artist in a few scenes. Jude admits he was quite surprised when Akshay said this. Jude says that Akshay had come up with the thread of Sara’s after the latter was inspired by a scene from Om Shanti Oshana.
Interesting surprises
“In one of the scenes in Om Shanti Oshana, Nazriya gets irritated when a child pulls on her hairclip while in a restaurant. Akshay was inspired by that particular sequence. Akshay then gave me the thread of a woman who doesn’t like to give birth. I really liked it and asked him to develop it. It is not necessary that all women enjoy maternity. The heroine in our movie is one such person. Anna Ben plays the lead role of a young woman who wishes to become a film maker. The plot narrates how she struggles and works hard to see her first film roll out,” explains Jude.
Interestingly, Vineeth Srinivasan and his wife Divya would be crooning to a song together in this movie. Meanwhile, the audience would be excited to see collector bro Prashant and noted anchor Dhanya Varma play significant roles. Jude reveals that he has a special surprise for Nazriya too, since the movie was inspired by her character.
Worried wife
Jude admits that his wife had initially discouraged him to make a movie about a woman who doesn’t like kids. She was worried that no one would appreciate such a concept. “I gave her the screenplay and after reading it she changed her opinion. She supported me and insisted that I should make the movie as it is written in the screenplay. It is the right of a woman, as a free individual, to decide whether she needs to get married or give birth to kids. I thought such a subject was relevant in the present society. The moment a woman gets married, everyone begins to ask whether she hasn’t conceived yet. There are people who have been forced to think about having kids just to overcome the pressure of such inappropriate questions and comments. Our society behaves heartlessly to the couples who can’t conceive. Sara’s is a film that questions why a woman can’t choose not to have kids. We exist not just to raise kids. I believe that the movie too communicates that message loud and clear,” notes Jude.
Challenging scenario
Jude says that he thinks to make a male oriented movie after completing each film. However, he would always come back to female centric plots and themes. He admits that his wife often makes fun of him for it. “I like this movie more than my previous films because if my daughter sees it in the future, she would surely be proud of me. For me, this movie was indeed challenging. The audience, after watching it, must wonder whether it indeed is a Jude Anthany movie. I was very particular that I must make the audience wonder in awe whether I could make such a film. I have worked really hard to see this film happen,” Jude signs
