'Kanjeevaram' at Toronto

Priyadarashan who started his filmi career as an assistant director in the early eighties has always been trying to express his creativity even in pucca commercial filmi versions. In 'Kalapani’, he even outdid his contemporary filmmakers with stylistic narratives which never bowed down to commercial compromises. Now after making a big name in Bollywood with half a dozen commercial hits, Priyadarshan is back to South to complete his first art house movie ‘Kanjeevaram’ – based on the plight of weavers in the Temple town of Kanchipuram. The movie set at 1942 – 57 also exposes the communism and its preachers which took root among the weavers here and motivated them to fight for their rights. Prakash Raj appears in the lead as Vengadam, a weaver who sows the seeds of revolution among the weaver community in the film. Produced by Percept Picture Co and 4-Frames, the 145-minute film was shot in Mysore on a very limited budget. The film will be screened at the Toronto Festival under the Special Presentation category. ''The movie will also expose the nature of Indian Communists who preach a lot but to practice virtually very little'', says Priyadarshan. Having completed the film with a shoot of just 30 days, Priyan admits “For the first time I have made a realistic film, a film I made for me... straight from the heart." ‘Kanjeevaram’ will have its premiere at the 33rd Toronto International Film Festival starting Sep 4. The film will be screened Sep 12 in the special presentation session along with Deepa Mehta’s ''Heaven on earth''. The movie will be released in Tamilnadu, by October with 12 prints.