House Owner – written and directed by Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, will complete shoot by this month’s end. The makers hope to bring out the first copy of the film in February.
The film is a love story inspired by real life characters and is set during the Chennai floods. Lakshmy Ramakrishnan tells Silverscreen, “I wanted to share the inspirational stories which have made a mark in my life. The film is about the stories I have seen, and liked, and it’s about what I think is love.”
Aadukalam Kishore, Lovelyn Chandrasekhar and Sriranjini star in the film. Lakshmy says, “It was an experience working with Aadukalam Kishore because he gets into the character, and just lives it. He doesn’t act at all. I actually regretted not starring as his pair because when you have a good performer sharing screen space with you, you enjoy it more.”
Sriranjani plays the woman we all see in our mothers, she says. “She’s very lovable and unassuming. There’s a major role play, but the weight of it is not thrown around. Those are kind of the women we have seen while growing up.”
The film introduces Viji Chandrasekhar’s daughter Lovelyn. Lakshmy says, “She didn’t have the typical looks, she was different and I liked it. It suited my concept. And the more I saw her on screen, I realised that she had the perfect timing. You will all see it soon.”
Although House Owner was initially planned without music, once Gibran came on board, music worked really well in the film. “Things evolved. The film asked for those musical breaks, and it was very organically done. He has done a fantastic job to give a feeling of being immersed in water.” The film’s sound experience is one of its USPs, she says. The other one is its love portions which promises to be relatable.
The team began shoot on June 10 last year, and 80 percent of it was complete by September. The most challenging part was the climax for which they needed a water tank to be built. It required almost 12 lakh litres of water.
“Where would we get so much water in Chennai? And the safety of artistes was also a concern because a small crack will wash you out completely. We had take precautions, excavate ground, build water tank below the ground so it would be all safe.”
The film is set during the Chennai floods, but is not about the floods. “You’ll get an experience of the rain and other things in the theatre. But don’t expect to be shown how people suffered, no. There’s not a single exterior shot. It’s about two people, their emotions and conflicts.”
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The foreign release rights for the film has already been sold and satellite channels have made their offers. Lakshmy and team are waiting for offers from release associations. She wants to find the right release platform after her experience with her 2016 directorial Ammani, which faced release issues.
She says, “If some people decide and say this one is a film for the masses and that one is not, it’s really sad. The audience should decide that. And till today audiences tell me they loved Ammani.”
For House Owner too she is confident that there is a good audience and it needs a theatrical release. “I really hope it gets the platform it deserves, and there are no middle men who to stop the film from reaching the audience.”