Shalini is now working on the script of a true crime series for Netflix and will be writing and directing a Hindi film soon.
Shalini is now working on the script of a true crime series for Netflix and will be writing and directing a Hindi film soon.
Filmmaker and screenwriter Shalini Ushadevi is reaching the pinnacle of acclaim as she won her first National Film Award for Best Screenplay (Original) for a Tamil film. sorarai potru, which he co-wrote with the film’s director Sudha Kongara. really, sorarai potruPartly inspired by the life and times of low-cost carrier Air Deccan entrepreneur Captain GR Gopinath, it won five National Awards – the most for any film this year – for Best Film, Best Actor for Suriya and Aparna K. Awarded for Best Actress. Balamurali, its lead star.
As someone who often stays away from the limelight and prefers to let her work do the talking, we find Shalini making dozens of congratulatory calls, posing for pictures and donning myriad garlands at her home in Thiruvananthapuram. Is. Ponnadas (shawl) from well-wishers. Taking a breath, she says, with some self-awareness, “The award came as a pleasant surprise. All the attention, not so much! However, I am impressed by everyone’s support.”
From Fahadh Faasil and Anmol Bhi Akami, directed by Shalini Ushadevi. photo credit: special arrangement
in tinsel town
After graduating in direction from Prague Film School in the Czech Republic, Shalini made her film debut as a Malayalam film writer and director. Akami (2011), a modern adaptation of Malayathoor Ramakrishnan’s original novel Yakshiyo, It stars Fahadh Faasil and Anumol in the lead roles and tells the story of a young architect who begins to suspect that his wife is the one. Yakshi (Demon).
sorarai potru (2020) is Only his second credits screenplay and first big budget film. It is the story of a small town Nedumaran aka Mara (Suriya), an Air Force pilot who aspires to start a budget airline and faces difficulties and apathy in his quest to give wings to his dreams. Is.
Suriya and Aparna Balamurali in a still from sorarai potru
, photo credit: special arrangement
Shalini and Sudha worked on the screenplay of the film for almost two years. “Sudha had already written the story when I came on board. Basically, the movie is a business story. To turn a fairly dry subject into a screenplay at heart, an underdog story that can resonate with all, we need a lot of work and rework. Sudha was particular about the script being airtight and had a very clear picture about it,” says Shalini.
The duo structured the script to cross between the past and the present and managed to pull it off brilliantly. “The idea was to show the struggle of an entrepreneur. Getting married seamlessly in two timelines was a real challenge. For someone like me who is terrible at math, scripts are the closest I get to fitting things mathematically and finding balance,” she says.
Another aspect of the screenplay that won the hearts of both the audience and critics was the character of Bommi (Aparna), Mara’s wife and boss lady, who is struggling to set up a bakery business in her own right. “She does not strive to be likable and she is not fit to be a martyr. She is a woman with ambitions of her own, whose inner life is rich and she has to overcome her obstacles. It was important to us that as an entrepreneur. Bommi’s journey was as important as Mara’s,” says the writer-director, instead of resigning, to take part in another unexpected ponnada congratulation
storytelling art
Back in the hot seat after a while, Shalini thinks about her love for filmmaking. “As a literature graduate, I love storytelling in its many forms. I love the art of cinema and love every aspect of filmmaking. That said, the backbone of a film for me is; He is always the hero of the film. I like to write both fiction and non-fiction. My training as a journalist has also helped me identify topics, decode research, and find the heart of the story. Telling it cinematically is something I love,” she says.
So, what makes a good screenplay? “You have to be invested in the characters, engaged in the plot and be able to, as they say, ‘kill your loved ones,’ whatever and everything is unnecessary,” she explains, for this. sorarai potru He has applied the lessons learned from his work Akami, “I made my first film according to my own metrics. This time I was constantly thinking about the audience and their wants and needs. Ultimately it’s up to them that we make a film, isn’t it?”
Not one to rest on accolades, Shalini is already hard-pressed to work on her next screenplay – a true crime series for Netflix, produced by India Today. She is also writing and directing a Hindi film for a major production house, which will be announced soon.