Attending the call minutes after her name was announced live on TV, Remya Raghavan was shrieking in excitement. Her film – her debut production venture and maiden acting stint – Swanam has received not one, but two state awards – for the best children’s movie and the best child actor for Abhinand. “It’s so surreal. I am at loss of words,” she says. “I don’t know whom all to thank. My director Deepesh Thacholi, Abhinand who played my son, my family who stood beside me through thick and thin… It’s an award for everyone part of Swanam,” she says.
Recalling how she fell in love with the script when Deepesh, her family friend, offered it for a read, she says, “I was smitten by the magic of the story of the visually-challenged boy and his mother who’d go to any length to support him. When we decided to bankroll the film, never did I expect that I would bag a role. And now this award! We all gave our 100 per cent to the film, hope it paid us well.” The film has been doing the rounds at various festivals and the team hopes to release Swanam in theatres across the state very soon.
