Thiruvananthapuram: Moni Sreenivasan is keeping his fingers crossed.The city-based filmmaker is debuting with Education Loan, a film about how the marginalised find it difficult to get education loans.
Says Moni: “A few acquaintances of mine had problems getting an education loan although they were eligible for one. They were refused a loan because they were not from affluent backgrounds. The movie is inspired by a news article of a student who allegedly committed suicide because she was denied one; her story struck a chord.”
Films were always close to Moni’s heart. “I am a movie buff and have always wanted to be a part of the film industry. I also wanted to make movies that have a message for society.”
As his stepping stone towards Mollywood, Moni started out by assisting in various serials. Although he had dreams to make a movie during his 12-year-old career in television, he had to put them on hold due to financial constraints.
“But now with the progress in cinema technology, one can make a film within a set budget. The audience are also willing to give new filmmakers a chance; this is a huge morale booster for aspiring filmmakers like me.”
Education Loan, which has been scripted by Payapad Raju, has been shot in the city. The film stars newcomers Parvathy (Ranjini) and Sreejith (Rajesh). In this “family movie”, Parvathy and Sreejith are good friends; Sreejith helps her in her quest to secure an education loan.
“The A to Z of how to seek an education loan is depicted in the film. People, especially the marginalised, need to know of this service by the government and also that they are eligible for one. The problem lies with the banks that offer these loans. The officers tend to give it to the one’s with ‘contacts’ and the affluent. As a result they ignore the deserving. I hope my movie is an eye-opener to the government and to the bank officials.”
The songs in the film that are already “doing the rounds on Youtube” have been rendered by M.G. Sreekumar, K.S. Chithra and Vijay Yesudas. Education Loan has been produced by Vinod M.P. under the banner of Azil Creations. The movie will reach theatres shortly.
