'Pranavam pictures' was his home production
company. He produced some films that became hits. Then he formed
his own distribution set up called 'Pranav pictures'. But he had
to terminate his projects and concentrate on acting after the
production of the prestigious Indo-French film Vanaprastham
directed by Shaji N Karun. Though it went around the world in
many international film festivals, it did not fetch money. He
incurred a huge loss of 2 crores. However he cherishes the moment
in Cannes when the audience stood in respectful silence after
watching the film. The art form, the actors and specially Mohan
Lal were highly appreciated. While he concentrates on acting, he
hopes Vanaprastham would bring him the money slowly
through international TV channels.
Recently he was in Trivandrum to attend a press conference, where
he revealed his intention to get into TV production. His company,
Visual Magic, intends to produce children's films in association
with Asianet communications. He is on to DVD production also.
Here we have Mohan Lal in a short interview;
Can you
tell us about your new company 'Visual magic'? Is it going to
concentrate only on TV programs?
Yes. We aim at TV. 'We' here means Asianet and Visual Magic Ltd.
My friends are also into this project.
What is your first project?
It is TV adaptation of 'Ithihyamala' (it is a celebrated book of
legends in Malayalam. It deals with real stories about temple
elephants, magicians, practitioners of traditional village
medicine etc.) I have been dreaming about picturising those
stories for our children. I love children's films. Unfortunately
we do not have good and enough children's films in Malayalam.
Are you going to produce children's films?
Yes, we hope to produce it without delay. My friends, P
Balachandran and T K Rajeev Kumar are also into it. Earlier,
there was nobody to lead them or encourage them. We discussed
this topic seriously and the company was formed.
How do you plan to shoot 'Ithihyamala'?
There are a number of stories in that book. Each story will be
told in five episodes. We are engaging the best directors in
Malayalam to do it. We will get a panel of directors. We expect
the series to go on air in January 2002. Malayalam channels have
good audience in and outside Kerala and in some foreign
countries.Children's film will come in the next phase. T K Rajeev
Kumar will direct this. I have some other projects in mind. I
have one more project for children, an exclusive children'
website.
'Pranavam pictures' was his home production
company. He produced some films that became hits. Then he formed
his own distribution set up called 'Pranav pictures'. But he had
to terminate his projects and concentrate on acting after the
production of the prestigious Indo-French film Vanaprastham
directed by Shaji N Karun. Though it went around the world in
many international film festivals, it did not fetch money. He
incurred a huge loss of 2 crores. However he cherishes the moment
in Cannes when the audience stood in respectful silence after
watching the film. The art form, the actors and specially Mohan
Lal were highly appreciated. While he concentrates on acting, he
hopes Vanaprastham would bring him the money slowly
through international TV channels.