Ramprasad Adpaikar’s hard work has finally paid off as his film, ‘In Search of Mother’ will be screened at IFFI 2014 in the Goan film category. With a young cast and crew, the film is a testament to film making talent being appreciated in Goa. Directed by Ramprasad Adpaikar and produced by Joseph ‘Jojo’ D’Souza, the cast of the 120 minute-long film stars Brijesh Kakodkar, Richa Lotlicar, Daniel Rodrigues, Shivraj Thakur, Rajkishor Mahambrey, Gauri Kamat, Ravindra Naik, Saiesha, Meenacshi Martins, John and Kristine Clarke, Rajesh Karekar and Anil Naik.
The story written by Ramprasad is based on an adopted girl, Analise seeking the help of Rahul, a guy she meets online, to help her find her biological mother. “This story came to mind from a number of true-life
incidents which relate to our judgement of others.
On what we see and what remain unseen and how
sometimes the burden of a secret becomes lighter when
it is transferred to another. The secret remains whilst the
secret keeper changes,” says Ramprasad.
Ramprasad was bitten by the writing bug at a very
young age. When he was in Class VIII, his stories were
published in Tinkle, a much read comic book. He even
visited Uncle Pai, the editor of Tinkle who told him that
his visuals were better than his narratives. Ramprasad
took this to heart and continued pursuing animation
and eventually direction. He completed a course in film
making at Jojo’s Digital World in Vasco before moving
to and completing a diploma in film production at
Chowgule College, Margao.
“My first short film ‘Save the Girl Child’
won the state level competition which
convinced me that I was on the right track.
My second short film ‘Sin’ was selected for the
international competition section of the Short
Film Center at the International Film Festival of
India, 2010.This is my debut in feature films and
I hope to make films with an impactful deep
moral and social message,” says Ramprasad
with conviction.
Brijesh Kakodkar from Margao has acted
in films including Konkani feature film ‘Zagor’
and Marathi film ‘Gadya Aapla Ganv Bara’. “My first scene
required me to jump from a height of 10 to 12 feet
without any support. Right then, I knew this would be a
roller coaster ride with Ramprasad. He has been a great
director and was very assuring as he would try the stunts
before making the cast do it. I had to prepare myself for
the role as the character goes through a transformation
in the film. I changed my lifestyle a bit and started
listening to rock music. Sometimes the character can
play with your head,” says Brijesh with a smile.
The film is co-produced by the Entertainment
Society of Goa and the music is composed by Sunil
Kerkar and sung by Quinnie Fernandes, Akash Telugu
and Sunil Kerkar. The film was shot in four months in
different locations in Goa. “The film is different because
it breaks away from the trend in Konkani cinema as it is a
wholesome entertainer with humour, drama and action.
It is a youth oriented film,” says Ramprasad.
Though it is encouraging to see youngsters take the
centre stage in film making, Ramprasad and Brijesh say
it takes a lot more than just the film fraternity. “Artists
are doing their work but the industry will not grow until
the audience is supportive and watches the film. Our
work will be appreciated when people start going to
theatres to watch our films,” says Brijesh who is also the
cofounder of ‘Narad Films’, a filmmaking firm in Goa. ‘In
Search of Mother’ will be released in theatres shortly after
its premiere at IFFI 2014.
