What if a character from the film you are watching leaps at you with a knife from the row in front? Where would you run?
Tamil film ‘Lisaa’, directed by Raju Viswanath, promises a new experience.
Shot completely in 3D and with stereoscopic cameras, this psychological horror tale follows Lisaa, a young woman who visits her grandparents at their ancestral home.
“Lisaa is preparing to leave for higher studies abroad. So she goes to meet her grandparents who are estranged from her mother,” said Viswanath, marking his entry into cinema. As she tries to bond with her grandparents, Lisaa’s stay is rocked with paranormal happenings there.
Anjali plays Lisaa. Actor-director Makarand Deshpande — who has worked in Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam and Marathi film industries — enters Tamil cinema as Lisaa’s grandfather. Yesteryears actress Saleema-who has worked in Telugu and Malayalam cinema, returns to screen as Lisaa’s grandmother.
Viswanath said that this is a first in Indian cinema where the entire film has been shot in 3D. Producer P G Muthiah has handled the camera.
Unlike regular cameras, the crew used two Helium 8K cameras rigged together so that one moved along the X axis and the other along the Y axis. Managing its combined weight of 27kg was no mean feat. Besides, the alignment of the cameras took time. The supporting cast includes Sam Jones, Yogi Babu and Mime Gopi and was shot simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu. Santosh Dhayanidhi has scored music.
For Viswanath, ‘Lisaa’ is the crystallisation of a long nurtured dream that is traced to his childhood days when he lost his father, late C.K. Viswanath.
“He was working on his first film, but could not complete it.”
After working for 11 years in the telecom industry, the MBA graduate quit a lucrative career to realise his childhood dream.
“We have avoided regular cliches of horror films. ‘Lisaa’ will be a new experience,” promises Viswanath. “There is a sentimental story at the core inspired from a true incident.”
‘Lisaa’, Tamil and Telugu versions, release in the UAE on May 23.
