A pinnacle of achievement
Sikharam has won awards at every festival. It is a story of accomplishment as 11 boys, who star in this film, were picked from juvenile homes
There are a dozen short films that are made every year. And a larger number of films for children. What sets this Nandi Award-winning film apart is that, of the 13 child actors in it, 11 were shortlisted from juvenile homes around the state.
Sikharam, the 90-minute film, was shot in a village, Poderu, approximately 150 km away from Vizag. Says Nag Gottap, director and producer of the film, “While the first part revolves round the mother of a family that is boycotted by the villagers falling sick. The adventure begins when her son and his friends decide to carry the woman on a bed across a jungle stretch of 25 kms to get her to the nearest hospital.”
While short-listing characters for the film, Nag and his team had visited schools in and around the city but, “We couldn’t find the rawness that was needed for the character, we had almost given up hope,” recalls Nag. But, after screen testing 5,000 children, someone had a brainwave to check out kids from juvenile homes, where they ultimately found their cast and how!
“We visited juvenile homes in Hyderabad, Kadapa, Warangal, Elluru, Vizag and Tirupati. 30 kids and 30 days later, we shortlisted 11 kids for the film,” reveals Nag.
The film that was shot in 26 days did not have any “acting classes” as such. “We wanted them to act naturally,” adds C.V. Ramana, the writer of the film. He adds, “You should watch the film to see their performance. For kids who are from the age group of 11 their acting will take you by surprise. The scene where the kids carry the mother... none of the kids laughed during the shot and they acted as if their own mother was sick.”
The film that was completed in 2011, was first screened at the Children’s Film Festival in Hyderabad 2011, under the world cinema category. It later won the Nandi Awards last year, but with the recent jury award at the International Children’s Film Festival in Benguluru, the makers believe that “their movie is going places now”.