Manish Kumar
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, February 26: They are students of engineering. They however, are in love with movies. Braving parental displeasure and acute fund crunch, they have, till date, made more than 10 movies. All short films and all made to pamper their passion.
It’s for their passion that they borrow money. It’s for their passion that they ask fellow students to act in their movies and it’s for their passion that they make and edit wedding videos. They use the money earned from such ‘work’ to fund their passion, moviemaking.
Devvrat Mishra and Priyam Mukerjee, both students 3rd year student of Mechanical Engineering of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), have been toiling hard after squeezing some time out from their studies to prove their skills in the art of movie making. Inspired by Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu and French director Jean-Luc Godard, the duo, in their early 20s, have already made more than 10 movies and are planning to buy a new shelf to keep the CDs of their yet-to-be- made movies.
Devvrat, who is from Lucknow met Priyam Mukherjee from Kolkata at the KIIT campus. Soon they realised they have the same aspirations. “I met Priyam at our college hostel. I soon realized we share same aspirations. Without delay, we started working on some short movies and our bonding only deepened. Now we work together on several projects and share the expenditures and work.”
When asked how parents reacted to his idea of making films, Priyam says, “Initially, they thought such periodic silly ideas often strike young minds. They never encouraged me to do this and asked me to focus more on studies instead. Only later they realised the depth of my dedication towards filmmaking. After I worked in more than 10 movies, they got a sense that I am too much into this. Only then they agreed to allow me to do what I really want to do.” Devvrat too has a somewhat similar tale to tell. When asked how they manage the logistics required to make the movies, Devvrat said, “We often ask our classmates to act in our films. For financial support, we have now started to make and edit some wedding videos, which give us some funds that we often channelise to our films. Although the whole process is painstaking, it is only our passion that has kept alive our aspirations.”
When asked if they want to take film making as a career, the duo however differed in their opinion. Priyam says, “Our parents have spent a good amount to teach us and have sent us to this college. I will try my best to first grab a job, satisfy them and then try my hands in filmmaking. However, I will never let my passion die. There is something in our lifves for which we cannot compromise.”
Devrrat says, “I may go to filmmaking after completing my course. However, the degree has also added some virtues in me. I have learnt a lot of things only after attending the course … a lot of technology which can only benefit us.”
The duo started shooting their movies with a simple ‘Digicam’ to cope up with the price factor. Now they use DSLR cameras. They hope their ‘progress’ will continue.
