JIM Sanjay, a Christian businessman based in Chennai, received Jesus Christ into his heart when he was 23. Life ever since has been a rollercoaster ride for him. A few years ago, he helped a filmmaker complete his film by agreeing to be the producer when the team ran into financial problems that threatened to stop production. That film was ‘Vedha’, a critically acclaimed Tamil film. The film was later dubbed into other languages and did a reasonable sale in the DVD circuit. His second full-fledged film venture is ‘Anbirkku Alavillai’ (Love knows no bounds). He has roped in Bollywood comedian Johny Lever besides a talented bunch of young actors. The Christian Messenger spoke to Jim Sanjay recently. Excerpts from the interview:
Congratulations on successfully making your second Christian film. What is it all about?
It is a love story of a husband and wife. It takes up premarital counseling in the beginning and then takes us on a journey of a married couple and addresses the issues we face in today’s world. It actually defines the true meaning of love. In most marriages, love seems to fade away with time. The film attempts to address some of the reasons behind that. Infidelity, frequent fights and arguments and lack of family time snuff out love from most marriages.
What is the message you set out to convey through the film?
The purpose is to promote counseling and therapy for families be it in the areas of pre-marital counseling, family counseling, or lessons on better parenting.
AA is a film shot on a budget of Rs.75 lakh. As a filmmaker, how do you plan to get your film marketed and get your money back?
The minimum budget required for a low-budget movie in India is Rupees two crores. That we wrapped up this film in two languages within 75 lakh is indeed a miracle. As for getting the money back, we want to have theatrical releases in Chennai. However, we do not have enough support from people yet. We may release its English version in the US. Most of the dubbing work is over and is done by American and British dubbing artistes.
You have woven in duets and around-the-tree dances so typical of run-of-the-mill films. Was there any pressure on you to make the film as cinematic as possible to appeal to the youth?
We were not making this film for ourselves. We were making it for the people. This is what people like. However, we have taken all efforts to keep this movie clean by steering clear of vulgarity and foul language.
What were some of the challenges that you faced while making the film?
The biggest challenge was funds. Flow of funds was not always easy. We completed the movie in two phases instead of wrapping it up in one. This two-phase adjustment stretched the budget by at least 12 percent more.
What is the response of the people who have seen the film?
Thankfully, people liked it. I would say at least 99 percent of the people who watched it said it is clean family film.
How has the church taken to the film?
I have not heard any negative remarks from the church leaders yet. However, they are scared to break the culture that condemns cinema. At least that’s what most several church leaders have told me.
Do you plan to dub the film into other languages and market them in other territories?
There is a great possibility that this movie will be available in cinemas in Hindi, English, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Nepali, Oriya, Farsi and Arabic besides Tamil of course.
On a personal level, what have you learned from the making of the film?
To understand and forgive religious minds who fervently appose any new idea in ministry. There is immense talent that is available in the Christian community. However, nobody has the courage to invest money in Christian projects. Do you know one of the actresses gave her life to Jesus last week as she experienced the same miracle in her family that was shown in our film? Our God still is a miracle-working God. AP
