Director Halitha Shameem opens up about her film ‘Sillu Karuppatti’

The critically-acclaimed Tamil movie Sillu Karuppatti, directed by upcoming filmmaker Halitha Shameem, is slated to be screened at the Bengaluru International Film Festival 2020 (BIFFES 2020) on Wednesday (Mar 4) and this has given a section of the audience a reason to rejoice. Speaking exclusively to DH, the director said that film festivals play a big role in helping a director’s work reach a wide audience.

“Movie lovers from different ethnicity and various parts of the world attend film festivals and this helps our work find patronage,” said Shameem. Talking about her journey as a filmmaker, she said that the initial years were a bit challenges but now people are more eager to work with women. The Poovarasam Peepee director added that her stint as an Assistant Director (AD) helped her find backing for Sillu Karuppatti as producers approached her.

Talking about directing Samuthirakani in her film, Shameem said that the Kaala actor is a simple person and trusts his directors.

“It (working with Samuthirakani) was a good experience. Even though he has plenty of experience, he trusts his directors a lot,” she said.

On a concluding note, Shameem said that subtitles play a big role in helping Tamil cinema make a bigger impact. “Subtitles help people watch a film without knowing the language. There are important of Tamil cinema,” added the director.

Meanwhile, the penultimate day of BIFFES 2020 proved to be a treat for movie lovers as films such as Move The Grave, Heroic Losers and Cinema Donkey clicked with those in attendance.