Film made at a budget of less than $15,000.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: A low-budget independent film by an Indian American writer/director is set to release in theaters next week, on January 25.
Hola Venky is the second feature film by Sandeep Mohan, whose debut film, Love, Wrinkle-Free, was released in 2011. The new film tells the story of an IT worker named Venky, who goes on a journey of love both literally and emotionally – from Mumbai to San Francisco and, as the Internet Movie Database puts it, “from his groin to his heart.”
The movie was made on a paltry budget of just 10 lakh rupees. As Mohan explains it in a blog post on DearCinema.com, he originally wanted to make a film entitled Touchy Touchy Ban Ban, but the futuristic film would have cost at least two crore to finance, so Mohan wrote the much simpler and lower-budgeted Hola Venky instead.
“After writing the script in a few months, I informed [Love, Wrinkle-Free producer Giju John] about this plan,” wrote Mohan. “He was shocked as to how anyone can make a movie in 10 lakhs. I convinced him that he has to trust me on this. I asked him whether he can cover the US shoot, which is around half the budget. He relented. I was relieved.”
The film will screen in theaters in select US cities – San Francisco and San Jose for sure, although it may expand to more cities later on – and the distributors have adopted a rather unique approach to garnering public interest. Fans can request to see the film personally with Mohan, who will host a Q&A about a film after one of the San Jose screenings.
The film’s title character is played by Roger Narayan, a veteran of both Hollywood and south Indian cinema. During his younger years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he appeared in a handful of Tamil films, including a 1993 Kannada film entitled Akasmika in which he co-starred with Kannada screen legend Rajkumar.
His Hollywood endeavors include such notable titles as the Julia Roberts starrer Eat Pray Love and the animated comedy Happy Feet Two. He has also had roles on several notable television shows, including How I Met Your Mother, House, and of course Outsourced.
Mohan is confident that the film will be a success, but even if it doesn’t set the box office on fire, he’s not too concerned. “Hola Venky is my second feature film. And this one has cost us one-tenth the budget of my first film. Even if I falter, the losses should not hurt my investors.”
The trailer for Hola Venky can be viewed below. For those who are unable to catch the film on the big screen, it will be viewable on Vimeo on Demand as well.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com