“THE SCHOOL” (Gurukulam) is a 15-minute Short Film directed by Senior Colorist Shiva Kumar BVR that won the Best Short Film Award at the Indywood Film Festival – 2016, held at Ramoji Film City from Sept. 24-27.
This is the directorial debut of Shiva Kumar BVR, who has so far worked as Colorist for over 150 feature films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada & Malayalam including the prestigious ARUNDHATHI, MAGADHEERA, EEGA and the present BAAHUBALI 1 & 2.
A native of PRODDATUR, in Andhra Pradesh, Shiva Kumar completed Polytechnic Diploma in Mechanical Engineering. But passion drove him to become a Graphic Designer in Telugu newspaperWAARTHA. After working for some years in Bangalore, he got the opportunity as a digital optical artist at Prasad EFX’s film division.
FILMOGRAPHY
Shiva Kumar worked for about 1000 films as an optical artist. Recognizing his ‘color sense’ the management picked him up for training in DI application. On completion of the training, Shiva Kumar met DOPKKSenthil Kumar (BAAHUBALI fame) who tested him for the feature film “Arundathi”
This was a turning point in his career and Shiva Kumar neverlooked back since then. He has worked for more than 150 films as Colorist including very successful films in Tamil like “ABHIUM NAANUM THENMERKU PARUVA KAATRU & VAAGAISOODAVA.
Entering into Direction was along cherished dream and when he got the idea for THE SCHOOL, in 2015 March, he started interacting with some writers & friends in the film industry to give it a final shape. “First, we locked the script & then created complete storyboard before going for shoot,” says Shiva Kumar who completed the entire film in less than a month – from shoot to post production. “Though finding the right location was a herculean task, we managed successfully as the crew and cast were very experienced.” Shiva Kumar hopes to take the film to as wide an audience as possible to spread awareness, especially among parents, who fail to recognize and encourage the inherent talents of their children.
AWARDS:
THE SCHOOL won several awards including the ones at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK-2016), All Lights India International Film Festival – India BEST SHORT FILM, 5th Bangalore Film Festival – India, 5th Kolkata Short International Film Festival, Indiewise Virtual Film Festival-USA, SABC Ekurhuleni International Film Festival – South Africa, Los Angles CineFest – USA, and 4th Indian CineFilm Festival – India.
SYNOPSIS:
“THE SCHOOL depicts the vision of a young mind, who produces electricity with the help of the knowledge that he has gathered from nature and his own childhood fantasies. The film imparts the message that parents and elders should not restrict the free-thinking of their children by unnecessarily imposing their fears and ambitions on them.
The story is about a boy who takes a cue out of his science lesson and tries to produce thermal power in his own small way. Initially, his intentions are taken light by his father at home and teachers in school. They will be pleasantly surprised when the boy finally lights up the house with his invention.
CAST
Rajiv Kanakaala – father Mounika – mother Satvik-elder son Rutvik- younger son Meka Ramakrishna-teacher Sripad-customer Chalapathi Rao – biker
TECHNICAL CREW
Director: Shiva Kumar BVR Producers: Naga Sudha, Satish Reddy Alam, Latha Sree Director of Photography : Sai Sriram Music. Gokul Abhishek, Anup Bhandari Writer : Stian
Editing : Praveen Pudi Asst Cameraman: Hari
Art Ram Sai
Costumes, Adi
Asst Director: Nagaraju Storyboard artist i Madhu Kuruva Supporting crew – Anitha Chowdari
