Malayalam Short Film Review  :      Yellow – The Flower of Friendship                          (https://youtu.be/sInfTORzquA)

Writer & Director                          :      Nimisha Kannath

Producer                                           :      Muraleedharan Kannath

Cast                                                     :      Shajeeer Pakkarath, Vidhya Lakshmanan, Vipin                                                                      V and  Nihal

What are your most precious moments when you think back about your college days?

For almost all of us Friends will top the list while books and studies will feature just above that strict lecturer whose thought can still give you the jitters.

Our sweetest memories will include the silliness, the shared moments, the teasing, the baseless jokes that had us cracking in the middle of a quiet class, the shared lunch boxes and then for that lucky some, that one person with whom you secretly shared that special bond – a bond that superseded friendship yet cannot be specifically categorized or defined.

Or in the words of Nimisha Kannath, Writer and Director of Yellow, a special bond that diminishes the whole wide beautiful world into that one person; that one person who can upturn even the dreariest day into a single moment of inexplicable joy with nothing more than their presence.

Yellow is a coming of age Malayalam Short Film with English subtitles that revolves around the bond of friendship between ‘him’ and ‘her’ currently running in YouTube on Muzik247 (https://youtu.be/sInfTORzquA). A bond that is skillfully portrayed by the actor, Shajeer – whose charming smile entices the audience into their little world of friendship, arguments, silly banter and shared moments while the actress, – Vidhya’s expressive eyes leaves the audience captivated. Their roles are well supported by Vipin and Nihal.

‘He’ is a passionate writer and she becomes his inspiration to keep his words alive, treasured in a book presented by ‘Her’. Their silliness and fights add to the joy of this peculiar bond of friendship that they rarely express but choose to simply experience – both of them scripting their shared moments in a diary that they secretly treasure.

I can assure you that post the 14 minutes, you will refuse to believe that this simple yet beautiful story of friendship has been directed by the young and vibrant, Nimisha Kannath, a college student who passionately professes this to be her maiden venture with no previous experience or expertise whatsoever.

I caught up with Nimisha as she and her crew were celebrating 50K views three days after the release of Yellow.

How does it feel after this exemplary response for your movie Yellow?

Quoting Paulo Coelho – When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it, I have come to believe that in spite of all the challenges that we had to face, the response has been overwhelming and worth all the effort. I feel grateful, very grateful for all the unexpected support that I have received through the making of this movie which is my first, entirely driven by passion and the support and encouragement of my brother – Nidhin Kannath, uncle and Producer – Muraleedharan Kannath, HOD – Vetrivel and the group of friends who have stood by me through the thick and thin of the shoot.

Now that you mentioned it, what were the challenges you faced?

I have begun to believe that everything happens for a reason – even challenges. Being beginners with no experience whatsoever, the crew and I faced several challenges.

The first one was when the protagonist, Shajeer, met with an accident during the shoot sustaining a fracture to his hand. We had to suspend shooting for an entire month. Though unfortunate, this break gave me time to revise and better the climax.

Being a fresher in this field, re-shoots were often required when the scenes did not seem satisfactory causing the project to lag. From setbacks that included issues with dubbing, power cuts, meeting deadlines, extending the release date – that was originally scheduled for a Valentine Day release, we faced innumerable challenges through the shoot.

Considering that the crew members are all college-going students, exams and other deadlines had to be tackled amidst the duration of the shoot. But I will always be grateful that with every challenge, came opportunities to improvise the script and the scenes. Luck was on our side as this break gave us immense support in the form of unexpected people who came along and contributed to making this project better.

What was the duration of the entire project and what inspired you to write this script?

The shoot began in the month of October and was slated for a February release but as I mentioned there were lags and challenges that pushed the release date. The story has been inspired from the special bond I share with my bestie – Greeshma, along with the bonds that I have been witness to among friends and relationships that were beyond friendship, yet have remained unexpressed.

The story was written more than a year back with no intensions of it becoming a script for my first short film but the support and motivation from friends, my brother, my uncle who readily agreed to produce, my mentor – Richy KS, my inspiration – Shruthy Gopinathan and many others who encouraged and pushed me to start pursuing my passion that sowed the seeds of an idea to turn it into a short film.

You first showcased your pictures on Instagram that always received rave response; did that help you realize your dream?

The camera has always been my best friend. Random clicks that I first showcased on Instagram received rave responses that was the beginning of realizing my passion, however, it took a lot of coaxing from my friends to help me come out of my shell as I was not very confident that I could go this far. But once I made up my mind and started, there has been no looking back. Now that I have realized my passion, I wish to pursue a career in advertising which is slowly taking a more definite shape since the success of this project.

Do you have any new projects in the pipeline?

No, not yet. I am currently basking in the joy of this success, even in the midst of examinations.

Do you have a message to friends and viewers?

Firstly, thank you all for the support and the response that I am currently receiving. Considering that we have not used any promotional techniques other than just sharing the link – https://youtu.be/sInfTORzquA – with friends and family, and now this blog review, we have had an overwhelming response.

I also wish to use this opportunity to tell everyone that it took a lot of effort to be able to get out of my shell to pursue my passion but the joy in doing so is one that cannot be expressed into words, so please do not hesitate to showcase your talents and passion to the world – the world needs more of it!

Yellow – The Flower of Friendship is a Malayalam Short Film with English subtitles that is currently running in YouTube on Muzik247 ( https://youtu.be/sInfTORzquA ) and has received an astounding 50K plus views already. Please be sure to watch the 14-minute short film by a group of passionate college students whose talents are evident in their maiden venture.

Wishing, Nimisha and her amazing crew, loads of luck for many more success ventures.