Dehradun October 20 – A group of young Tibetans with boom, lighting kits and a big digital camera crisscross Dehradun and vicinity to make a new Tibetan feature film, ‘Phun Anu Thanu- Two Exile Brothers’. The group is headed by Tashi Wangchuk, a Post Graduate degree holder in film from USA and Tsultrim Dorjee, a film graduate from Bhartiya Vidhya Bhawan, Bangalore, India. Since it was a first time to witness film shooting at Dekyling Tibetan Colony, even the smallest of small kids has on their lips, ‘Action’ to tease one another.
According to the director duo, the film is about two naughty brothers and their unconditional love for two beautiful, educated sisters from the same community. The film, in all, is a comic in nature. The film also carries a very strong message on HIV/AIDS and Tibetan political scenario. The film has some of the most notable Tibetan figures including Pa-Tsering and Sonam Wangdue of ‘We are No Monks’ and ‘Dreaming Lhasa’ fame. Earlier the duo also requested noted Chinese actor Jet Li to make a special appearance in the film. The actor was in Dehradun to visit a monastery. However, he couldn’t comply with their wishes due to time factor.
When asked about the challenges in making this film, the duo felt that it was a fun as well as a challenging task when the majority of casts and crews are newcomers in this field. Every artiste including the lead actor liked the script of the film that is a judicious mix of comedy, romance and drama. Prior to the actual production, they had a brief workshop to educate the casts and crews about production technicalities. ‘Lighting and sound were our prime concern since we are planning to send the film to festivals across the globe. So, we assembled some of the unemployed local guys and had hectic training on the very aspect.’ says Tsultrim, the director.
Jamphel Tenzin has been asked to score music for the film.
Apart from film festival participation, the duo targeted Tibetan communities as the major audience of the ongoing film which will be the forth feature film to be made by a Tibetan. Tashi Wangchuk, the co-producer of the film says, “I am very much confident that the film will be a landmark in our film history and would generate good response from the general public.”
According to Sonam Wangdue, the lead actor, the Tibetan young filmmakers were perfect in dealing with the crew and were very professional in their work.
