Amavas
The bustling life of national capital New Delhi has attracted many filmmakers. Now a bungalow there forms the backdrop of an offbeat horror film.
Made under the banner of Shreya Creations, the film's executive producer is Sheel Kumar.
For director Siddharth Srinivasan, 28, this is his first commercial feature film. He has some short documentaries to his credit.
Srinivasan says it is "the story of two young girls who are medical students studying in Delhi, and stay in a barsati (rooftop tenement) as paying guests.
"The bungalow is owned by a childless couple, who treat the girls as their own. But something takes place one dreadful night in the lives of the girls that turns their lives upside down."
As to why he decided to call the film "Amavas", Srinivasan said: "'Amavas' is a dark and total black out night when a lot of action could take place. I decided to title it 'Amavas' only because of its complete dark effect.
"Since the entire film tells the story of a single night, I thought the title would be most apt."
Veteran actor Victor Banerjee is visibly excited about his role as the landlord of a house who grows fond of his paying guests and takes care of their day-to-day needs "just the way a father would".
TV actress Neena Gupta says she feels "great to be facing the camera again". She plays the wife who too can't do without the girls.
As for her long sabbatical from the small and big screen, she said: "After all, I am an actress first and it was only after I took to directing TV serials that I stopped acting for a while.
"But when a good role came my way, like the one I am doing in 'Amavas', I just grabbed it," said the director of popular serials "Saans" and "Siski".
Actress Tara Sharma, who acted in Mahesh Bhatt's film on supernatural forces, "Saaya", said "Amavas" "is very different from 'Saaya'. This is more scary," she said.
For Konkana Sen Sharma, who won last year's National Award for Best Actress, "the film has been a new experience, though I must admit it has been a pleasant one".
Viewers will get to see producer director Mahesh Manjrekar in a new role. "I play the role of a plumber and mine is a very important character in the story," he said.
Shreya Creations had earlier produced "Paap" and "Jism", "but this is going to be our first horror film", said executive producer Sheel Kumar.