Kunnimanikal Video. A brief history

The work on the Kunnimanikal video started over a year and a half ago. Thats a long time!. But what it was then and what it is now are two different things. My first experiments with video started there. The first story was about 2 people. A man and a woman who had no connection. They are just going through their lives sad with nostalgia. Quite an insipid storyline. But some people did like it. I was not happy about it. I had a colleague of mine and another girl act for the whole thing. Balu and I spent a lot of time on this thing. Soon I realized that the girl's role wasn't working. People were confused by the relationship. Splitting the story lines was not working. So I canned that part. Then I went to India and shot scenes with a kid. I had everything to make the video but.. I wanted something more significant.

I then started toying with an idea about coordinating with people around the world making a single video. That was in the works and then got thrown out.

Finally, during this vacation when I went to finalize Kanmani, I shot Kunnimanikal again. This one has a good story line and some excellent actors. Not the glamourous looking kind but with everyday people.

Its about friendship and childhood nostalgia. Shot in the rainy season, the visuals will bring a lot of memories to anyone that watches it. The editing has started. 5 days of shooting. about 5 hours of video. Now I have to cut it to a 5 minute song. Stay tuned. This is probably the first Malayalam music video to be shot and edited in HD.

Balachandra Menon

Yesterday morning 5:00 am, the phone rang. I was recovering from a flu so my sleep wasn't deep. Divya picked up the phone and gave it to me telling me that it is someone called Balachandra Menon. The moment I heard the voice, I knew that it was The Balachandra Menon who had presented us with a whole bunch of great movies. He said that he had seen the Kanmani video and he liked it. He said the lead girl was excellent. He is looking for a new heroine for his next movie and wanted to find out if Suman would be available for that project. I told him that I'll consult with her father and let him know. Unfortunately, they were keen in getting her finish her studies than pusuing a career in movies yet.

I called him back to give him the news. He thanked me and told me that he understands that totally. Anyway, its an honor to me that he watched the Kanmani video.

Okay, a lot of people has been asking "So.. what happened? No news at all.."
Here is the answer.. Kanmani is still being worked on. I am not giving up. Currently work on the second video has started. If it takes me to make 7 videos of all the songs and then sell Kanmani as a video album I will do it. Being a one man army has its benefits but it gets tiring sometimes. But I guess it has everything to do with will power and persistence.

After the Kunnimanikal video, I will start up the Venal video which will be the first of its kind in Kerala. A new project will get started today evening with Prasad Bhandarkar as well.

Here are a couple of teaser photos from Kunnimanikal video:

Vinod Balakrishnan

A moment of pride for all Malayalees. Here is an article that appeared in Mathrubhumi weekend edition. It was a full page article. If you have ever used photoshop, you would never have missed noticing his name listed in the splash screen.

Personally, I have known Vinod for a few years now. He is a good friend of mine. Vinod also was instrumental in the development of Kanmani project. He is also from T K M College of Engineering, where I studied as well.