Revathi S Varma is raring to make her big screen directorial debut. With more than 200 ad films to her credit, the film June R is set to release on December 23. It also has big stars -- Saritha, Jyothika, Khushboo and Surya.
An intriguing name for a film, isn't it? "It's the name of the protagonist," says Revathi, in between directing shots at Boy's Town, Hyderabad. In perhaps the last schedule of her shooting, on account of heavy rain in Chennai, she has been shooting scenes for a title song here. We see a young pregnant lady walking forlornly down a path, before the scene shifts to a ramshackle shed, her home, where she is desperately trying to feed her infant. Her poverty forces her to leave the child at an orphanage, amidst heavy rain.
"This is a title song with a flashback. It portrays incidents in the life of June R's (played by Jyothika) mother when she was young," says Revathi. A young ordinary girl is essaying the role. The mother's role is being played by Saritha, while Biju Menon plays her son. Khushboo plays June R's friend, with Surya playing her lover.
"The movie is based on an episode in my life that I have developed cinematically. It revolves around a girl, June R, an orphan, who comes up on her own and becomes a creative director. She adopts a woman as her mother at the age of 22. So the film deals with this unusual 'mother-daughter' relationship and the events in their lives," Revathi explains. It is based on a novelette (which was almost like a screenplay) she wrote years ago, which was published in Hindi and English magazines.
The film, produced by engineer-businessman A Ansari, is shot in Pondicherry, Chennai and Munnar, apart from its few sequences in Hyderabad. Madhu Ambat is behind the camera, while Sharath is the music composer. Songs are part of the story, not unnecessary insertions. And the rain is a leitmotif in the film.
Revathi tells us that the producer had "almost finalised the movie in Hindi with Jaya Bachchan and Rani Mukerji playing mother and daughter. It did not materialise due to certain problems. Jyothika heard of the script and expressed a desire to act in it after the narration. She suggested I make it in Tamil."
The director wants to make movies that entertain. "I want people to whistle in the theatres," she says. Movies are clearly a passion for her, and she is already preparing for her second film that will, in all probability, have Vikram in the lead role. "It is a political love story written by a friend. Filmmaker Rajesh Touchriver is working on the script, which deals with a politician and a journalist." She may shoot this film in Hyderabad too.
For the moment though, June R is all that's on her mind.
