Directors Pushkar and Gayathri have launched a production house called Wallwatcher Films, and they are collaborating with producer Sashi of YNot Studios for the first project. Titled Aelay, the film will be directed by Halitha Shameem, starring Samuthirakani and Manikandan in the lead.
They released the first-look poster this morning saying it was a script that made them laugh and brought a lump to their throats. “Our former assistant director Halitha is an incredible storyteller with a keen observation of the human condition. Really proud to have her helm our debut production!”
Halitha directed Poovarasam Peepee in 2014, and later made the anthology film Sillu Karupatti which awaits release. The shooting for Aelay begins in Palani today.
#Aelay. The first project of the @StudiosYNot & @wallwatcherfilm collaboration. Directed by Halitha Shameem @halithashameem. Starring Samuthrakani @thondankani and Manikandan. This script made us laugh & brought a lump to our throat! Shoot starts today! @sash041075 @RelianceEnt pic.twitter.com/BcriKVryT3
— Pushkar&Gayatri (@PushkarGayatri) May 3, 2019
The husband-wife filmmaker duo directed Oram Po in 2007 and Va- Quarter Cutting in 2010, two distinctive films exploring the underbelly of Chennai. This was followed by Vikram Vedha in 2017, starring Vijay Sethupathi and Madhavan, which became a super-hit.
The couple tweeted yesterday that years ago they had heard scripts from many young filmmakers but didn’t have the bandwidth or resources to produce them. Speaking to Silverscreen, Gayathri said that now is the right time. “We’ve heard a couple of stories we really liked. These are small, interesting films which probably won’t attract mainstream producers. They are the kind of films we wanted to produce at some point. It just had to fall in place and in many ways, success always helps. Vikram Vedha worked, and there are a lot more people ready in invest in our work.”
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For their first production, they have collaborated with Sashi, who is also a good friend. “He was looking for creative producers who could handle production. It matched our vision because our main interest is in listening to scripts, nurturing projects and putting them together.” Young directors, some of whom have worked as their associates in the past, approached them with scripts. “We heard these scripts really long ago. We had told the filmmakers that in case they didn’t find the right producers we would definitely want to produce their films. We’re happy to do it now.”
Gayathri and Pushkar have also identified one other project. “Some more work needs to be done on that, so announcements will come a little later,” she said.