CHENNAI: The glitz and glamour of any film award function was present at the Abirami 7 Star Theatre on Monday evening. The only difference was that college students were the stars of the show, bagging awards for their short films.Josh 2012, an inter-collegiate short film competition held to mobilise public opinion against underage driving, was announced earlier this year. Out of more than 127 films, including one 3-D and one animated film, seven were short listed.Conceptualised and organised by Abirami Ramanathan, President, Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association, along with Ramesh Khatod, Director, Khatod Group of companies, the competition was open to college students in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and is part of a campaign started in October 2011. With more children below the age of 18 hitting the roads on cars and bikes, they pose an unnecessary danger to themselves and other road users, besides it being against the law. The campaign was launched to stop this unhealthy trend.Addressing the gathering, Abirami Ramanathan said, "Anything can be told through cinema. If it is told in a convincing way, it will stay in the audiences mind forever. This is why we chose this medium." Appreciating the amount of skill, hard work and technique put in by each team, he said that they would work magic if they had the right equipment as well.Ramanathan also said that some of the films would be played in theaters, so the public will know about the issue as well.Ace director SP Muthuraman and President, Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council SA Chandrasekar were also present to give away the awards. Both reiterated the power of cinema and how it has changed peoples perception on various issues and hoped that it would be the same for this issue. SAC added, "No matter what age you drive at, the important thing is to be careful."OEC College placed first for their film Adults Only, Loyola Colleges' Irusakkaram placed second and OEC's second entry My Superbike won third place. The winners were given cash prizes and trophies.Awards for best screenplay (My Superbike - Alexander Francis), best editing (Vidiyal - Elango of St Thomas College of Arts and Science) and best director (Minus 18 - Shwetha of MOP Vaishnav College for Women) were also given.Russian dancers, East African acrobats and a mime group enthralled the audience during the show. Cinematographer R Rathnavelu of Endhiran fame and biker Alisha Abdullah were also present at the function.
Comments
0 comment