Light of Life - Short Film

This short film is based on a Vedic concept written and directed by myself(Rajesh Nanoo). It describes the way life unravels until it reaches the spiritual ecstasy. It is about how life transcend to a spiritual journey. Every one born into this world has to undergo this journey at one time or another, a few will tread fast while others take it slow and that speed marks the difference between them.

This short film portrays the life of a modern executive who is depressed by the way he was living. He renounces his ties with the world in search of peace, and then he begins to understand that peace cannot be fetched just by renunciation. He has to dive deep to get hold of the inner truth and slowly he gains the insight of peace in its true color. When he finds it within, then all his doubts vanish and his true nature is unraveled by the grace of omniscient nature.

The short film is of 15-20 minutes duration. Greeneries and beautiful landscapes, and deserts in  Dubai, Alain and Rasalkhaima are the major locations. There is only one main character (between the age of 40-45) in this film, and he is represented in every scene. I am using a few cinematic visual methods to convey the message much more convincingly... by using few fantasy visuals and also natural visuals as an added plus to the dialogue sequence. The lighting pattern using natural light is a character in the whole film. The musical visuals that portray the cosmic light depicting the character’s inner thoughts are other highlights. Musical vibrations that synchronize with the Vedic chanting are used in the beginning and ending to enhance the concept to a sublime plane.

The film otherwise contains different forms of nature and music. It also contains CG (computer graphics) scenes.

A sample presentation of this short film can be viewed on youtube videos. The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lODr4NZ_zm0&feature=player_embedded

Anyone interested in associating with this project can contact me vvishwaraja@gmail.com.

Thank you.

Reflections

Written & Directed by Dr. V.Viswaraja

This feature film is about human beings and the environment they live in. Humans are not self-made. They are by-product of various elements in nature. Therefore, a person does not have the right to break the synchronization in which he was fed in. The synchronization between man and nature as well as man and man is equally important for a healthy socitey. Whenever human beings try to live a life by the standards they set for themselves, then the setup of nature is chosen, and eventually they end up losing the soil under their feet. It is similar in relationships. A person is born and bought up in an atmosphere which was breeded with love, and when this secret and sacred thread of love is broken then what is left will be loneliness. If you do not care of his world and his relationships, and is living a life casting them off, then obviously you are saying to nature that you are ready to live alone. When this message reaches nature it will obey your calls and incidents one after another will pile up that make you lonely in life. Then you will begin to understand the boredom of loneliness, until you realize that the loneliness which you were ready to accept was just a figment in your mental world which was unchallenged. These impasses help you to understand the beauty of love and the strength and solace it gave you before. This film is about realizing the importance of love in relationships and mother nature. It is about how you can listen to the inner voices, how to understand their needs, and how to act on them without breaking their structure. This synthetic thinking about love not only bestows longevity, but also renovates and speeds up the process of becoming pure. If you are not learning this precious lesson which nature teaches you in the life university, then whatever you learned apart from that will become futile on the very day you get enrolled into this master class taught by nature which charges no fees.

This film is like a textbook which has 2 chapters, or we can say 2 segments. It's widely separated and yet it is intensely attached with one another, just like two people who had different lifestyles, getting together in a marriage. It can be treated as two films in one, or one film viewed as two. In both cases, the results are not unparellel. The first segment's emphasis is on the beings and nature while the second part's emphasis on beings and beings. The main characters in this film are getting these two types of education about relationships. The only difference is that the first man by understanding nature gets insight on the depth of human relationships, while the other person, by understanding the relationship with his fellow beings, gains the insight of mother nature. So these two lessons are learned in different ways with similar endings. The way in which the film unfolds is also different. The first segment is communicated with a worded format while the second is more visually communicated, and both are affixed in a subtle language. So I have relayed on fantasy worlds/narrative worlds/superhuman worlds for making this message enlive in characters heart forever. Its also discuss the conflict between modern world with the ancient for analysing which one was more sceintific and aligned towards truth and purity.

The first segment's emphasis is on the story of Jayadevan, (age 40) who is a farmer. And the second segement is the story of Dr.Paul(age 50). Both of them are well-educated and have good family backgrounds. Their lives were smooth and happy with their family and friends for a period of time. As life progresses, both of them face setbacks one after another in different realms. In life, no one can be happy forever, and no one can be sad forever. The tragic events both of them face are not the same, but what they learn from the events is the same. Truth cannot be different as per people and their lifestyle. So what one finds out will be the same as another did, the only difference is in the process and guidance.

Jayadevan, also providing for his wife and 2 daughters, relied on farming for their livelihood. He had a few helpers and the prominent one is Raghvan (age 30). Jayadevan's farming was a profitable business until a few unfortunate events followed, due to the mistakes and misdeeds he had done in the past. Jayadevan gains many lessons from a man named Dr. Ramanathan, (age 60) who has great insight in ayurveda/homeopathy and subtle sciences. He is at the same time harsh/witty and liberal. His words are like roses surrounded by thorns,so people think he is harsh when he is actually soft in heart. Jayadevan also learns about organic farming from an octogenarian, who treat his farm and cows in atomopshere in which nothing can penetrate other than love.

Paul lives with his wife, daughter Ann, (age 21) and son Paulson (age 16). He has a brother named Freddy (age 55) and 2 best friends who are a wonderful couple, Venugopal (age 38) and Dr. Hema (age 32). Paul was very brilliant in his career. His life too is smooth/hilarious until the incidents unfold and his world begins to crumble. Unlike Jayadevan, Paul gains insight from inner worlds without the help of a master. He learns from the events themselves rather than someone teaching or intrepreting events and trying to make him understand the meaning of those incidents. In this segement there is also sub-story of NRE Jaison (age 36). There is the head nurse Fathima (30), who is the connecting thread between Dr. Paul and Jayadevan.

The film relies on the philosphical concept that no blows occur accidently. It is all certain that no one will get off scot free for the things they did while they were strong and careless about the after effects of their deeds. So don't blame any one or any one for your misdeeds. Understand life is a cycle and the thoughts and deeds are recycled and repeated until they finally rotate full circle. From there you end up in the place in which you started, so know this and make sure mistakes are not repeated. To avoid repeating mistakes, one should be aware of the mistakes and learn lessons from good and bad teachers alike, rather than mourning over it. The gates of wisdom and peace are wide open only for those who repent. That is the message given by noble hearts. This film is following their footprints by capturing frames/music and words seen in the middle while passing through the way.

I wrote it in my mother tongue malayalam, now planning to change it to english and hindi. i am looking for a suitable producer to make this film intrested parties can mail me to vvishwaraja@gmail.com

My aspiring 5 Projects

(a discussion with my freind rafe)

Dear rafe.

Since i dont have much time to write, i will write a very small write up about all 5. i am only working on and trying to make a one line during my shoot interval which starts from this Wednesday, so, some among these 5 have a proper form and some are formless in my mind. all the projects are in English and subtitled to other languages.

1. Ehsaan(you are watched) is about a journalist trying to make a film based on a real incident with the help of a master. the master and journalist are seen only in a scene. the real incident is-A boy is coming to join the school. Head master is having conversation with him. The boy says that his parents are from different religion- Hindu and Muslim. Head master ask about his religion. He says he don’t have religion. And when he becomes mature he will study all religion and choose one among them. Now the religious fraternity in kerala says that, this chapter is anti-religious and creating mass protest. Christian pontiffs, Islamic imams, prominent Hindu sect are all creating chaos regarding this issue. They say the government’s attempt is to teach kids socialism and debar the religion, thus there wont be any religion for the future generations, so govt has vested interests. The political groups like-Congress and BJP has also joined the issue and making huge rallies in protest against communist government. In this row an innocent school teacher lost his life.

when she discuss this issue with master, master advice her that, everything happening here is due to ignorance. he try to make her understand who is a devotee as per hindu/christian/musilm teachings. in the end he concludes that, a real devotee is hard to become and not by birth but by deeds he gets devotee qualification.

this film have at least 15 short films intertwined together with the main theme. and each theme discuss more than 15 concepts, so one short film for one concept is the way am making it. it will have commentaries, narrations, sublime and thematic visuals to present the idea..

2. Reflections(working title)

this is one of my film project, which i dont discuss vedantha directly. i choose it to blend it with social issues. this film is focused on 3 levels.
1. how we behave to nature and our selfish nature to cultivate our benefits
2. how we are treating our ancestors, and the consequence of such behaviors
3. the relationship between a husband and wife in a net savvy world.

all the three persons are taught a lesson from their own respective field, which in turn is an outlook forwarded by rishis on the respective aspect.
this films are very much intertwined as single film than 3 films.

3. shravanam(working title)

this film is about the listeners. a master is giving a lecture to crowd and he is teaching them highest philosophy. people are hearing it with keen interest. after that the camera is following 10 listeners and capturing the pictures of what they are doing after the speech.. are they really listening? are they understanding? are they behaving as per they heard? or they cheered while hearing the speech was hypocrisy?

in this film am using a zen and a sufi story in which i give a different dimension. or you can say that, am interpreting them in different way than its heard and said. and there will be other hilarious moments that listeners often do after hearing such speeches. i just mean to say what impact a speech can do with listeners as per their mental state.

4. guru(working title)

in this age, everything has become modernized and commercials. in this age majority have 2 faces and spirituality is degraded as commodity and the master are sellers. in this scenario how can an aspirant find a living guru. its easy to have a universal guru, coz greats like Sri.Ramakrishna,Swami Vivekananda,Ramana Mahrishi has sojourned this world only a few years back. if you try to travel back, then you can find buddhas, christ, mohammad, kabbalist, jinnas, sufis, taoist,nanaks, etc. they are all passed away making their words alive for centuries.

so how can we get a guru that can be perceived by eyes, can we sit in their feet and learn from them, who are not sellers? or do we need a guru to realize the truth? these are the things am inquiring.. and this films concepts have roots in ancient Indian Scripture. or u can say its an interpretation from that ancient book in the modern context.

this theme demands lot of visuals, but i dont think it can be limited to a film due to its length. so either i have to write it as book or as tv serial which consist of many episode.. so the format of this theme will be finalized upon the fund and the promoters who are ready to do this project as per the ideas am putting forward.

4. guru(working title)

in this age, everything has become modernized and commercials. in this age majority have 2 faces and spirituality is degraded as commodity and the master are sellers. in this scenario how can an aspirant find a living guru. its easy to have a universal guru, coz greats like Sri.Ramakrishna,Swami Vivekananda,Ramana Mahrishi has sojourned this world only a few years back. if you try to travel back, then you can find buddhas, christ, mohammad, kabbalist, jinnas, sufis, taoist,nanaks, etc. they are all passed away making their words alive for centuries.

so how can we get a guru that can be perceived by eyes, can we sit in their feet and learn from them, who are not sellers? or do we need a guru to realize the truth? these are the things am inquiring.. and this films concepts have roots in ancient Indian Scripture. or u can say its an interpretation from that ancient book in the modern context.

this theme demands lot of visuals, but i dont think it can be limited to a film due to its length. so either i have to write it as book or as tv serial which consist of many episode.. so the format of this theme will be finalized upon the fund and the promoters who are ready to do this project as per the ideas am putting forward.

5. Timeless Wisdom

knowledge have different levels, what are they? its basis, its structure, its aftermath is the theme of this project. i am discussing about 12 levels of knowledge and the way its unfolded to an aspirant. i have not worked much on this project, other than forming the concept. may be i write this as book than a film, not yet decided, coz i have not made a one line, so i cannot choose a format that best suites for the theme.

normally my writing style is. form a concept and then make a plot based on that concept and develop it as per the concepts development. so what i do is reverse than other writers normally do.. they try to develop a plot and incorporate a concept to it, which i don’t do normally.

my films are mirrors. i am making films as reminders to oneself. they are indicators in which you can look yourself and frame an opinion about the way you lived. after seeing this film you will fall into- one among this categories.

1. I live like this concept
2. I live more than this concept
3. I have not lived as per this concept
4. I should live as per this concept
5. I don’t agree with this concept,even though am not sure its true or not.

the concepts am saying is as old as hill but as fresh as sea breeze now.. so they are something that should be taught and followed, other wise life itself is waste..

As Holy Quran reminded:

By (the Token of) Time (through the ages),
Lo! man is a state of loss,
Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in
the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.

Note: i will just write one line for all these 5 and wait till an investor comes forward and gives me things that are needed. so if there is any one who reads this(or readers friends) are interested in any of these project and will give me the full freedom to write and direct as per my understanding, are most welcome.. they can either mail me or call me in my mobile numbers..

vvishwaraja@gmail.com
0091-9037-325835 or
0091-9895-369280

Regds
Raj