"Pardon the cliché, but it sure was a surreal experience," smiles Kalesh Ramanand, as he talks about his appearance at Cannes 2014. Lead actor in the short film The Surreal , which made heads turn at the Short Film Corner at Cannes 2014, Kalesh is the latest entrant from the bandwagon of young actors who are steadily climbing the artistic ladder. Getting a special screening with world-renowned directors in the audience, Kalesh says that the best moment was when a Korean filmmaker came up to him personally to appreciate the effort. “He hugged me, appreciated the hard work that everyone had put in and wished us well. I was really touched by his gesture.”
Surely, rubbing shoulders with the who’s who of international cinema gives any actor a high.. However, the high point of Kalesh’s Cannes visit was his interaction with Kamal Haasan who led the Indian delegate at the French Riviera. “It was amazing to interact with an actor of such fame and repute. He was calm and down-to-earth. He told me he was proud that someone from Chennai had made it to Cannes,” says a visibly excited Kalesh.
Shot with the Red One Camera (used in movies like Achchamundu Achchamundu and Unnaipol Oruvan ), with DTS 5.1 sound, The Surreal didn’t have typical sound effects, but used orchestral sounds instead. “The open ending left things to the imagination of the audience. At the end of it, people had more questions than answers. Even I had to watch the movie quite a few times to figure it out,” laughs Kalesh. Directed by Vijay Jayapal, whom Kalesh met through a mutual friend, he says that Vijay’s passion to make The Surreal a success was evident in the first meeting itself. “He told me candidly that he was making this short film keeping Cannes in mind. That’s ambition and passion for you, right there.”
About being the only Indian actor to be inducted into the Young Actor’s Club at Cannes 2014, he says, “I came to know about it only after reaching Cannes. I felt honoured to receive this unexpected recognition and it threw open the doors of international cinema to me.” Ask him about his red carpet moment and he exclaims, “I had the opportunity to go for the premiere of a Spanish film. Only when I had the ticket in my hand did it sink in that I would be wearing a tuxedo and walking the red carpet.”
Tryst with theatre
Kalesh’s entry into filmdom didn’t happen by chance. With a passion for arts since his childhood, Kalesh found his true calling in acting and landed at Evam theatre group after a brief stint in music. Having worked and gained experience under veteran theatre personalities like Karthik Kumar and T.M Karthik, Kalesh joined Koothu-P-Pattarai. “I looked up to seasoned artist Kalairani who mentored me there,” says Kalesh. Later, when The Surreal premiered in Chennai, he invited Kalairani for the preview show. “I was confident that I had something concrete to show her as a testimony of my time spent learning at Koothu-P-Pattarai.” His first feature film, Kunjananthante Kada, made heads turn as the character required him to sport a rustic look and shave his head!
So, with Cannes done, what’s he looking forward to? Kalesh says, “I’m currently working on a prelude to a Tamil feature film. It’s titled The Social Experiment and gives a sneak peek into the full-fledged feature film. It will be a very futuristic film.” Also on the cards is a feature film with The Surreal director Vijay. With a passion to establish Tamil films at an international platform, Kalesh aims to be a pan-Indian actor.
