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K. Rajagopal Talks Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) Interactive Film Project ‘Lizard On The Wall’!

By Flora / 20 Jun 2017 (Tuesday)

Photo Courtesy of: SIFA (© Jeannie Ho)

InCinemas spoke to acclaimed Singaporean filmmaker K. Rajagopal, who will be directing a one-of-a-kind movie-making project for Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA).

As part of the O.P.E.N. programme, members of the audience who purchased the O.P.E.N pass to view the filming process, are invited to participate as cast, playing wedding guests in the film. Spread over a period of 3 days, filming will take place at a secret location where the team expects to welcome over 150 people per day.

“It will be just like an actual film set, like how supporting characters in the film go through,” said Rajagopal. “We have a limited period of time with the audience and we wouldn’t want to waste their time, so we’ve already created a list of people and divided them with different call times… something like what an actual production would do.”

He added: “My priority is the audience because they are the ones who are treated as my VIPs, my stars. I’ve allocated a lot of screen time for everyone, so they will definitely appear more than once in the film.”

(Find out more at the official website!)

Photo Courtesy of: SIFA (© Jeannie Ho)

The 60-minute short film will also feature main cast members, played by Sharul Channa, Mayur Gupta, Shrey Bhargava and Anvita Gupta. They will be interacting with the audience members during the wedding celebration as well.

For 22-year-old Bhargava who plays Narain, hopes to expand his acting experience through this project, after all, ‘Lizard on the Wall’ will be his first film production that will be screened on the big screen.

“I think what’s exciting for me is to work with Raja, who is an acclaimed director; and this is my first film! The whole process is going to be exciting, to be able to play with his vision and see where it takes me, and see the production to the big screen,” shared the sophomore at University of Southern California.

“The film will involve a huge crowd and we don’t really know what they are going to play out to be, so there are scenes that will probably be created spontaneously, depending on who we have, what we can do, and depends on what Raja decides.”

If you’re wondering what your director is like on set? Rest assured for Rajagopal says he is one who can ‘control my temper’.

“The most important thing for me is the make the entire process enjoyable for the audience because that’s what I like my film sets to be - a lot of fun! Instead of stressing out and screaming and shouting to get things done, I would like to laugh and have fun.. because it’s about a wedding, and in a wedding, you don’t want to create tension,” quipped the “A Yellow Bird” filmmaker.

“Of course I expect certain hiccups here and there, but I’m not going to complicate things. We have ADs (Assistant Directors) to control on set and if things happen, let them happen naturally to let the audience experience what happens on a film set!”

“Improvisation is fun. I think it keeps the actors on their toes and keeps me on my toes, and I like that challenge.”

In addition to getting to know how a film is made, participants who starred in the film will be invited to walk the red carpet on 9 September at the ‘Lizard On The Wall’ gala premiere in the same costume that they wore during the shoot and see themselves on film!

(Register here!)

SIFA 2017 Lizard on the Wall Local K. Rajagopal

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K. Rajagopal Talks Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) Interactive Film Project ‘Lizard On The Wall’!