Twenty-something K'wood directors

A few years ago, the norm was that one made inroads into the film industry as a director, by learning the craft from an already-established filmmaker. These days however, several aspiring young directors it seems, have chosen to skip that step. Spending a considerable number of years as an assistant, and then finally finding a producer to fund their first film, for them, seems like a Herculean task. What they choose to do instead is to gain experience by studying the art of filmmaking and going the short film way to get their big break in the industry. From a 23-year-old Deeraj Vaidy making his debut with Jil Jung Juk to 21-year-old Karthick Naren making his debut with Dhuruvangal 16, Kollywood is seeing many young guns taking the industry by storm...Deeraj Vaidy Film: Jil Jung JukWhen Deeraj decided to make his first film, he unintentionally chose not to assist a senior director. 'I wanted to take a different route,' he says adding, 'I had the script ready. When I was looking for producers, their only question was if I will be able to pull it off. It took a lot of time convincing people. Later, I shot a pilot video on a tight budget. That helped us find producers. In fact, Siddharth was impressed after seeing the pilot,' says the 23-year-old director.Karthick Naren Film: Dhuruvangal 16Yet another youngster who will be making his debut in Kollywood is 21-year-old Karthick Naren. This young director from Coimbatore had come down to Chennai to work on his short film. Later, he worked with Deeraj for Jil Jung Juk (for only two schedules). This mechanical engineering student said that he developed interest in filmmaking while he was studying itself. He later started off making short films and gained confidence to make a full-length feature. Presently, he is working on this thriller about a disabled cop with actor Rahman in the lead.Elan Film: GraghanamDirector Elan will be making his debut with Graghanam with Kreshna and Anandhi in the lead. He, too, took the short films route to become a feature film director. 'I did my aeronautical engineering, but my interest always remained in films. I began by making short films. I did a psychological thriller called V-Chithiram with Bobby Simhaa in the lead. I took a lot of effort for this one as I wanted this to be my portfolio of sorts. This film, which was selected in film festivals, helped me get a break in Kollywood,' says the 25-year-old.Srinath Ramalingam Film: Unakkenna Venum SolluSrinath Ramalingam, who made Unnakkenna Venum Sollu when he was 25, says that even his filmy background didn't help him get a producer. 'I studied filmmaking in the US and worked in Hollywood. I later moved to Singapore, and was the head of creative for a company that made TV series'. When I decided to make films, I came back to Chennai. I consciously chose not to assist a senior director as I didn't want their style of filmmaking to influence mine. I knew it will be tough job to find my footing in the industry, but that didn't deter me. I met close to 40 producers to finance my debut film. It was undoubtedly tough, but I gained a lot of experience,' says Srinath, who is presently working on his next film, which is a story on a pet's life.Adhik Ravichandran Film: Trisha Illana NayantharaAdhik Ravinchandran, debuted in the industry with Trisha Illana Nayanthara, when he was just 25. With zero experience of working under any senior director, this young chap says that he wrote the script when he was in 10th grade. 'I wanted to take up a visual communications course, hoping to work on films in the future. But bowing down to family pressure, I decided to pursue engineering. In retrospect, I don't think I would have become a director even if I had studied vis-com,' he laughs, adding, 'As far as producers are concerned, it is indeed tough for young directors. But actors are now open to listening to our scripts. Just look at Rajinikanth 'he signed a film with Pa Ranjith. They know that we are quite bold with our scripts.' The director is now working on his next with Simbu in the lead.