Off Broadway...

Sira, a 30-minute experimental movie, based on the anguish of a poet over global terrorism, bagged international acclaim Those visuals are eerie, bizarre and striking, just like Salvador Dali's abstract, surrealistic and symbolic paintings. There are all the reasons to believe that the short film was inspired by Dali. In one of those initial shots, you can see a torn picture of Dali lying on the splintered floor. Bringing popular actor-writer Tanikella Bharani's hitherto concealed knack of making films of international standards to the fore, Sira (Ink), the 28-minute short movie, has become the talk of town. Known for his literary and acting skills for more than two decades, Tanikella, in his directorial debut, talks a lot about the ‘mad mad' world. Matched with an ignorant but loving wife, the protagonist - a writer - leads a painful life, anguished by the global terrorism. The three characters, a skull (the writer's consciousness), the writer himself and his wife, through different visuals speak loudly about the burning issues in the present world. The whole film sans dialogues (there are only three short dialogues, they are asides, rather) is an assortment of creepy images backed by ace music composed by Veenapani. Poet drinking ink, his wife sleeping with the skull, her pounding of pens, roasting eggs on the recording disc of a phonograph, the protagonist licking the teardrop of his wife, ticking of a broken pendulum clock, morning newspaper turning into red and then black and the like leave the viewer spellbound. Trevor Greenfield, festival director of Idaho Panhandle International Film Festival, in which Sira bagged the best Antiterrorist Message Award, said about the films screened in the fest, "Most of these films are short, such as Sira, an experimental short film from India by director Tanikella Bharani. The story about a poet, human rights and global terrorism is making its US premiere." Tanikella, on the other hand, is upbeat about the movie. "I wanted to make an experimental movie of international standards. We as a team put a lot of efforts and all out efforts have borne fruit. I wanted to bust the myth that art films of this genre are only made in Malayalam and Bengali. I am proud, being a Telugu, to bring an Indian film to international arena," says Tanikella. "It took so many months to conceive this film and three days to do the shoot. I searched for a suitable location for long and finally got this on the outskirts of the city. Had we erected a set, it would have cost me a bomb," he adds with his impeccable smile. The movie ends with a hymn that means ‘let the whole world be happy.' Popular TV anchor Jhansi, who played the poet's wife, is trigger happy that she could act in such a movie. "I was under the impression that to act in such an off Broadway flick, you need to go somewhere. When Bharani offered me the role, I was thrilled. He taught me a lot about life. In the beginning I didn't understand a thing. But in due course of time, I realised that I was doing something really big," says Jhansi. The music composed using only traditional instruments plays a vital role in the movie. Basing on the fact that ‘emotions have no language', Sira is something that every Indian can be proud of. Hats off, Tanikella!