The Life Line
My First LineNot my first attempt at making a film and certainly not my first romance with the lens but this film is definitely my first successful short film, that motivated me to continue to make other experimental films and got me a lot of attention in College.The claps that this film received and the tears that it brought in the eyes of few, at its very first screening at the MRC Auditorium, Madras Christian College, is something I’ll cherish for a long time. It apparently happened to be the first short film by a MCC viscomite! Well, actually a pair, this film belongs to my friend Mahesh and of course me!!It was about 8 months since its first screening, and I had almost forgotten about “The Life Line”, Mahesh had sent the film as an entry to a film fest organized by DBICA – Don Bosco’s Institute of Communication Arts, that organizes once in a month a forum for alternate media, like documentary’s and short films. There were over a hundred entries from all over Tamil Nadu, out of which 15 films a mix of documentaries and short films were chosen for the final countdown. It was not a surprise to me that ours was one of them. The film that came first at the award ceremony was everyone’s favorite “Katroodu”, a Tamil short film by Paaval, a pal from Loyola I came to know just a month before, I was thrilled as I had shot the film and edited it for him. And then came the real surprise, the best documentary of the year and no prizes for guessing, “The Life Line”. The first film by a viscomite from MCC to win an award. Incidentally DBICA was a place where I learned my basics in film making and editing, taking tips from the films screened there and from none other that the ace Tamil film editor Mr. Lenin. It was also where I watched, “No Man’s Land”, remember the film that beat “Lagaan” at the Oscars, ya that’s it. This was well over a year ago, but that’s when my craze for filmmaking began. After watching “No Man’s Land”, I began writing my first script “Betrayed”, a film I began shooting in my second year, that turned out to be a disaster, hopefully one day I will be able to complete it.
Snaps from "The Life Line" shoot These are a few snaps from our two day shoot for the documentary "The Life Line", that covers the last journey of the World's last Meter Guage Suburban train service, that spanned for 73 long years.
The last ride, filled with nostalgia - on 1st July 2004
Waiting for the last journey - on 1st July 2004
The Captain's cabin - on 30th June 2004
A proud face - on 30th June 2004
The driver of the last official MG train posing for the cameras - on 30th June 2004
My First LineNot my first attempt at making a film and certainly not my first romance with the lens but this film is definitely my first successful short film, that motivated me to continue to make other experimental films and got me a lot of attention in College.The claps that this film received and the tears that it brought in the eyes of few, at its very first screening at the MRC Auditorium, Madras Christian College, is something I’ll cherish for a long time. It apparently happened to be the first short film by a MCC viscomite! Well, actually a pair, this film belongs to my friend Mahesh and of course me!!It was about 8 months since its first screening, and I had almost forgotten about “The Life Line”, Mahesh had sent the film as an entry to a film fest organized by DBICA – Don Bosco’s Institute of Communication Arts, that organizes once in a month a forum for alternate media, like documentary’s and short films. There were over a hundred entries from all over Tamil Nadu, out of which 15 films a mix of documentaries and short films were chosen for the final countdown. It was not a surprise to me that ours was one of them. The film that came first at the award ceremony was everyone’s favorite “Katroodu”, a Tamil short film by Paaval, a pal from Loyola I came to know just a month before, I was thrilled as I had shot the film and edited it for him. And then came the real surprise, the best documentary of the year and no prizes for guessing, “The Life Line”. The first film by a viscomite from MCC to win an award. Incidentally DBICA was a place where I learned my basics in film making and editing, taking tips from the films screened there and from none other that the ace Tamil film editor Mr. Lenin. It was also where I watched, “No Man’s Land”, remember the film that beat “Lagaan” at the Oscars, ya that’s it. This was well over a year ago, but that’s when my craze for filmmaking began. After watching “No Man’s Land”, I began writing my first script “Betrayed”, a film I began shooting in my second year, that turned out to be a disaster, hopefully one day I will be able to complete it.
Snaps from "The Life Line" shoot These are a few snaps from our two day shoot for the documentary "The Life Line", that covers the last journey of the World's last Meter Guage Suburban train service, that spanned for 73 long years.
The last ride, filled with nostalgia - on 1st July 2004
Waiting for the last journey - on 1st July 2004
The Captain's cabin - on 30th June 2004
A proud face - on 30th June 2004
The driver of the last official MG train posing for the cameras - on 30th June 2004
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