Padayachee to screen his first feature film
AWARD-WINNING Durban writer and independent film director Dayakar Padayachee will screen his first feature film, Shadow, in August.
The 30-minute suspense drama is about 15-year-old Tyrone Sharma, a homosexual boy, whose parents’ marriage is falling apart and who have no interest in his life.
One night Tyrone is visited by a shadow, which then plagues him. Shadow is based on the philosophy of Carl Jung, the idea of our shadow taking on the baggage of all the emotions we carry in our daily lives.
Padayachee, who is selffunded, previously worked on Glances, a short film that won the audience award at the 48-hour Film Project in 2014. He later worked on horror film Artwork, which also received good reviews from critics.
“I was always crazy about film,” said Padayachee. “My dad made home-made videos and I got to play with the camera. I also love reading books, mostly the dark genre.
“It comes though in my writing and work because I love exploring the dark psychological nature of human beings.”
Padayachee said his perspective of societal oppression caused him to find a meaningful way to create change, using film.
“Durban has this stigma about Indian film-makers and actors. We are perceived to talk in a certain way and do things a certain way. I want to break that stereotype.
“I believe Durban has great film-making potential and I want to make a difference to the industry. It is actually my dream to one day work in the UK and then come back to Durban and share my knowledge,” he said.
Over the past few years, Padayachee has been involved in several projects, most notably a YouTube show called The Cobra, which gained even more fame after one of its stars, Tyson Murugan, was murdered in 2014.
To honour Murugan’s memory, Padayachee will be doing a reboot of the popular series next month.
Despite Shadow being a short film, it will feature a soundtrack with music from local up-and-coming artist, Sanam Sitaram and composer Collin Petty.
The film also boasts a star cast, including Kajal Bagwandeen, Yateen Dayaram, (Rajesh Gopie’s Coolie Oddyssey), Lihle F. Dhlomo ( Between Friends), Jerome Naidu ( Bush-Knife The Rise), Hendrik Joerges, Rizelle Januk ( Scandal TV series), Issy Tronnixx, Tazme Pillay and Geaneviv Pillay.
In 2018, you can expect to see different genres of film from the director. Padayachee is also working on a comic book series, which he intends to produce into Japanese animation.
“I love TV and the way you grow the characters in a series. I also encourage film-makers and enthusiasts to get involved in the industry and to follow their dreams.
“There is not enough content coming from Durban and I would like to see that change,” said Padayachee.