Conceived and directed by lyricist BK Harinarayanan, the music features Aparna Balamurali, Bijibal and Peesapally Rajeevan.
Service before self. This has been the motive of thousands of health workers in the fight against the pandemic for the last one and a half years. ela, a musical feature (a short film with music as the mainstay), tells the story of a doctor Ila, played by Aparna Balamurali.
Conceived and directed by lyricist BK Harinarayanan, the 10-minute musical has composer Bijibal and Kathakali artist Peesapilli Rajeevan.
Ila, who works at CFLTC (Covid First Line Treatment Centre), is broken by the fact that the love of her life (Manu, played by Harinarayanan himself) has blown up on her and is getting married. While she remains strong and focused on her work, she gets infected and succumbs to COVID-19, but before recording a video message about taking precautions to avoid getting infected with the virus No.
inspired by true stories
“Ela’s story is inspired by many true events that I have heard or read about. Statistics say 1,500 doctors, 200 health workers and 120 nurses have died due to the pandemic. This is a tribute to all health workers. We have only seen them in PPE kits and little is known about their miseries,” says Harinarayanan.
The song, ‘Shalabha Hridayme’, is composed by Mithun Jayaraj and sung by Mithun and Sitara Krishnakumar. “I wrote a song along the same introductory lines. The rest of the lines were different. It was composed and sung by Mithun. We shot the film taking that composition as a reference. After shooting, I wrote new lines keeping in mind the theme,” he added.
He further added that the project is the coming together of a group of like-minded individuals under Vibes Media, a platform to promote new talent. Among those associated is Kunnamkulam MLA AC Moideen, says Harinarayanan.
Aparna Balamurali and BK Harinarayanan during the shooting of ‘Ela’. photo Credit: special arrangement
Once he discussed the story with cinematographer Manesh Madhavan and editor Pravin Mangalath, he approached Aparna. “When she heard the story, she agreed to join the board despite her busy schedule. After shooting for a day wearing the kit, he felt restless and started having a headache. She was talking about how difficult it would be for the people wearing it, that too for hours.”
BK Harinarayanan with music composer Bijibal during the shoot of ‘Ela’. photo Credit: special arrangement
Having worked with Bijibal in films and independent projects, Harinarayanan says he was the obvious choice to play Ila’s soft-spoken brother.
State Award winning actor Rajeevan plays Ila’s patient. “I have seen his plays and need his acting skills as a Kathakali artist. Especially in the scene where he through gestures and expressions requests Ila to remove her mask so that she can see her face before going home,” he adds.
Produced by Shaju Simon for Vibes Media, ela Some parts of Thrissur district such as Malankara Hospital and YMCA in Kunnamkulam and some houses in Chavakkad were shot. “Velur Panchayat helped us with the equipment to set up the CFLTC. We had subject experts like Dr Binita Ranjit to guide us in some scenes. We also have a nurse and Rapid Response Team (RRT) volunteers reprising their roles. “
“I wish at least one person could sympathize with health practitioners after seeing this,” he signs off.
Watch ela on Youtube.
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