Synopsis for the Film
Film: Veli
Country: India
Director: Sashikanth
Duration: 53 min
Category: In Memory of Rivers & Lands Lost
Veli was conceived in 1997 by producer-director Kailasam and Sashikanth as a film on river pollution. It was to be a simple straightforward account of how heavy industrialization was spelling ruin for a river, until they arrived on the banks of the river, then gushing in all its glory in the midst of the exuberant festivities of Adi Peruku- the festival of fertility. What they witnessed was not just a natural resource bearing the brunt of industrialization but a force of nature and the exuberant culture connected with it. To view a river as a polluted ‘commodity’ was not just taking a parochial view but also to subscribe to the general outlook which the policy makers and industries subscribed to. With all pre-conceived notions literally ‘swept away’ by the dynamic spirit of the river and the life around it, the film-makers decided to let river itself dictate how it was to be shot. With the soundtrack of retro Tamizh love songs that the driver of their bus had compiled and the visuals of the river is full flow, the film-makers hit upon the idea of ‘parallel constructs’ that connects the river with the people, their culture, their rituals, their memories and emotions that surround it. The river as a love song- Veli emerges as a film of rare conceptual richness that seeks not to document or pontificate but to explore the very notion of what makes the river so very integral to life.
Distinctions
Trivandrum Documentary Video Festival 1997
More Details
Sashikanth studied cinems at FTII, Pune and have been working in Kolkata and Chennai on both documentaries and feature films as a cinematographer and director. Important among my projects would be Kaal Abhirati (dir: Amitabh Chakraborthy [1990]), Yugant (dir: Aparna Sen [1995]). He is currently engaged in the process of finishing a documentary titled Kelai Draupadai. B. Kailasam is an Engineering graduate from the Madras University, trained in Film and Broadcasting at the University of Iowa, USA. His thesis project The Twice Discriminated (1987) was an analysis of the state of Dalit Christians of Tamilnadu. On his return to India he worked in various capacities as Director, Script Writer, Editor and Sound Recordist for several films and videos. His 1990 documentary on the art of Temple architecture and sculpture called Vaastu Marabu won the Best Film on Art and Culture at the 38th National Film Festival 1991. In 1992, he produced and designed the sound of Veli an imagistic ode to the river Cauvery.
