Shoot At Site: Ken dons two hats in his directorial debut 'Youth'

It’s double duty for Ken Karunaas on the sets of Youth , where he not only directs but also appears on screen. The film features Anishma Anilkumar, Meenakshi Dinesh and Priyanshi Yadav as the female leads, with Suraj Venjaramoodu and Devadarshni playing Ken’s parents. Ken says, “ Youth is about a boy’s life during the eleventh and twelfth grades. It has no specific genre and no twists or turns. We have clubbed real incidents that happened to my friends and me in the film.”

My friends and I thought, ‘Why can’t we make a film on our school life?’: Ken Karunaas

“It’s a character-oriented, coming-of-age film set between 2014 and 2016. I wanted the effort that everyone showed towards love at the time to be showcased through this film. Also, the roles that I was being offered were serious and not fun. So, my friends and I thought, ‘Why can’t we make a film on our school life?’ We wrote this film for two and a half years.”

I play a North Indian girl brought up in Tamil Nadu: Priyanshi Yadav

“One of the production members reached out to me on Instagram, as they thought I would suit the film. I’ve done Hindi TV dramas like Pandya Store, Chakravarti Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan and Doree . In the film, I play Sonal, a North Indian girl brought up in Tamil Nadu. The main issue was language, as I don’t know Tamil. We did workshops for dialogue delivery. It was funny when I pronounced words in Tamil. Ken is humble and made me comfortable.”

It’s my first time acting as a school kid: Anishma Anilkumar

Anishma says, “While shooting for Sirai , director Suresh (Rajakumari) sir would always talk about Ken. So it turned out to be a coincidence when my next was with Ken. My character is playful and non-serious. It’s my first time acting as a school kid. It has been some time since I finished school. So, I was tense about whether what I’m doing is coming off well. It’s inspiring working with Ken because he is acting and directing and balancing both well.”

We automatically get into a school vibe when we come to the set: Meenakshi DineshMeenakshi says, “We’ve been constantly practising scenes. This is a school-based story. When we come into the set, all of us automatically get into a school vibe. It’s a positive and super fun atmosphere on set, and there is no stress. My character is innocent but a bit confused.”

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