THE STAR
Rohini Kumar has been in the film industry since the 1970s – after graduating from the Institute of Film Technology in Chennai, India – but only recently directed his first feature film.
The experience he gained from working as an assistant director in various projects in India and Malaysia, and producing commercials, music videos and documentaries over the years paid off handsomely when his film Shadow Play received four awards at the World Film Awards 2015 in Jakarta last month.
The four awards are: Golden World Award for Best International Film, Golden World Award for Best Director (Kumar), World Award of Merit for Cinematographer (Kumar) and World Award of Merit for Best Actor (Ashay Arya).
In an e-mail interview with Kumar, the director said that he wasn’t looking at winning awards when he was making the film. “So when it did win – it won four awards when I wasn’t even expecting one – of course, I was exhilarated, to say the least.”
This was not the first time he had won awards, he said. His commercials have raked in accolades in the past – “but I can’t really remember any of them because they were all team effort.”
For Kumar, Shadow Play was a very personal project and he had invested a lot in it.
He explained: “The film is entirely self-funded. I had to wear many hats such as a writer, director and cinematographer.”
Due to Kumar’s juggling act, the film took longer to produce. Luckily for him, his cast and crew were accommodating to his schedules.
Shadow Play explores the relationship between May (Joanna Soh) and a foreign man that she saves. What starts out as an act of kindness turns into something deeper. But then slowly, it turns into something horrific as May suspects there might be more to the man – who now lives with her – than meets the eye.
In the role of the foreigner is Ashay Arya who is originally from Iran, and has been living in Malaysia for six years. Others in the cast include Khaz Shamia, Brindha Devi and Frankie Lee.
Kumar shared that his daughter helped him set up a Facebook page meant for casting purposes. While he found his actors this way, Kumar got Lee to participate in his film because he is an old friend and colleague.
“I had him in mind for the role right from the start. And this was just before he became a star through The Journey.”
As of now, there is no general release date for Shadow Play in Malaysia as Kumar has just started marketing the film here. However, he has plans to take the film international.
“Now that there is some recognition attached (to Shadow Play), we should strike while it’s hot,” said Kumar on his strategy in getting the film sold.
It was on a fellow director’s suggestion that he submitted Shadow Play to the Asia Pacific International Film Festival, which was to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia. However, according to Kumar, the organisers passed the film to a sister festival, the World Film Awards.
When asked what it means to have Shadow Play recognised at the awards, Kumar answered: “Recognition is, of course, what every artist lives for. Now that I’m working towards my next film, it’s like a shot in the arm! I’m enthused to do a better job.”
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