Chennai college student Ahaana Krishna, who made her debut in Njaan Steve Lopez, has directed an ad featuring her father
What are the perks of having an actor father when you have to direct a film? You can rope him in for a role and get the added advantage of making him dance to your instructions by going in for retakes.
In Ahaana’s case, she did not have to do any retakes because her experienced actor and father Krishnakumar got it right in just one take. Curious? Currenly a collge student in Chennai, Ahaana lets on, “I am doing my Visual Communication course and we will soon be doing our last semester where we have to do a specialisation course and I chose television production. As a part of this, all students need to make a public service announcement ad, an ad with a social message.”
“This ad has to be shot, edited and sound incorporated by us and then submitted. My topic was ‘Obsession with Technology’ and my actor for the film was my father.” Shedding more light on the 35-second ad, Ahaana says, “The concept is about the man of the house returning home after a hard day. He finds his children busy with their mobiles and headphones.
Only his pet dog showers him with attention by jumping and licking him. The father greets his daughters who take a minute from their phones and return the greeting but before he can ask for a cup of tea, the headphones are back on and they are glued to their cell phones. The father looks at the dog and they walk off with a tag line saying “Thank God, animals are not obsessed with technology.” Incidentally, the children are played by Ahaana’s sisters.
Funnily enough, Ahaana never gave much thought to directing her father. She reveals, “It was when my mother showed me some mobile clicks of me instructing my father that I realised I was directing him. I was actually concentrating more on the angles and the light.” Incidentally, this is the third film Ahaana has directed. She had directed a short film in Tamil which is not yet released and a public service ad for women’s safety against rape.
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