Trailer of short film 'Manja 'released by govt school kids

Bengaluru: Recently a trailer was released by a set of government school children on YouTube for the movie Manja. The trailer of the short film looked promising, and this short-film has already won many prizes in festivals. "This is a story of 12 year old Manja, who loves, lives and breathes kite flying. Mischievous at times, adorable always. Living with a widowed mother, for whom her son is her world. To make him excel in studies she offers him a deal. Score 80% or above, then he will get permission to attend a kite festival that is happening after his exams. Did he score well? Will he take part in the Kite festival or not form a thrilling climax"

Speaking about the story of Manja, Director HarshithAnand explains, "Though the story is about a young boy who loves flying kites, this goes on to deliver a very strong message to society." Director HarshithAnand had earlier made a film Stoned, on Drug Abuse that went on to receive many awards.

Why do social message audiences show any interest in someone preaching to them? "Every movie that we see/make wants to deliver some kind of a message. But, how you take it to the audience is very important. It can be either by a documentary or a fiction wound around true incidents. Id audience connects with it, then as filmmakers we have won," says Harshith

"When I first listened to this story, I immediately said yes. As parents we look up to our children to fulfil those dreams which we as parents failed. In this I play a character of a widow who not only wants his son to become an achiever, but also as a mother I can lead a happy life. Apart from that the kind of message this film delivers is just brilliant," said Asha Sujay, one of the lead Characters"

"Even in real life I like flying kites. During Covid, when we were restricted to homes and classrooms became virtual, most of my school pages were converted as Kites, and I got a mouthful from my mom too. When Harshith Anna told this story, I could not believe it. I am playing myself in this movie" explains Master Chinnmay gleefully who plays the lead as Manja

"I was supposed to produce this movie as it had a strong message. Though we could do it at a low production cost. But now it is a crowd funded film. Happy that I initiated the process" narrates Srinivas Raj (Sriniraj Productions). "Many of us chipped in as we saw a promise in this team and the way they took us took us into confidence," says co-producer RamyaSatish .

"After the story scheduling, and story boarding, we barely managed to finish the shoot. For post-production, again there was a lull. At that time it was ArunAdiga of VidyarthiBhavan who stood rock solid with the team to carry forward all the post production work. We are immensely thankful for him," said Harshith.

"When I listened to the story, I was bowled over. And the trailer is proof of what this team can achieve. I did not help this project as a business at all. But, I am investing in talent in the belief that if supported, such youngsters will be an asset to Kannada Film industry (KFI). I am very eager to watch this film," says ArunAdiga, owner of famous hotel VidyarthiBhavan.

Harshith added, "The icing on the cake came through journalist/writer PrathibhaNandakumar. When she sent us the much needed voice over from highly talented 'Daali' Dhananjaya sir, the elation of our team cannot be explained through mere words. His voiceover begins and ends our movie that escalates the whole narrative to a different level.