How to become the next Karthik Subbaraj

Aishwarya Dhanush talks to sudhir srinivasan about her YouTube channel to showcase short films

August 22, 2015 05:47 pm | Updated March 29, 2016 04:50 pm IST

CHENNAI, 11/04/2012: Film director Aishwaryaa Dhanush during an interview with The Hindu in Chennai on April 11, 2012. 
Photo:R.Ravindran

CHENNAI, 11/04/2012: Film director Aishwaryaa Dhanush during an interview with The Hindu in Chennai on April 11, 2012. Photo:R.Ravindran

Before she started making feature films, Aishwarya Dhanush was making short films with the help of people around her — like Dhanush and Anirudh.

She viewed it not so much as a training exercise but as a way to while away time, a hobby. “Mainly so people couldn’t accuse me of wasting time,” she laughs. She didn’t know then that these films would create in her a love for the shorter format, and a desire to give them the space they deserve.

After two feature films — 3 and Vai Raja Vai — that’s exactly what she has done now by launching a YouTube channel called Ten Entertainment. The channel’s named so because Aishwarya is rather fond of the number 10. “My older son, Yatra, was born on the 10th of October (the tenth month).”

This initiative is partly a result of her Twitter account (with more than 8,45,000 followers) being bombarded with YouTube links of short films by upcoming filmmakers. “I try to watch as many of them as I can. It’s just courtesy that I do. Quite a few are really good,” she says.

She wanted to launch this channel earlier. “And then, Vai Raja Vai happened. So, I had to wait till its release.” She isn’t interested in monetising it — not yet. “I want to give these films more visibility.” And that wouldn’t be a problem because between the Facebook pages of Wunderbar Films, Dhanush, and Anirudh, and their respective Twitter accounts, she can, with just a few clicks of the mouse, easily reach out to about 1 crore people.

I am surprised though that she downplays the initiative’s revenue-making potential. “If we looked at it as just another commercial venture, we would be tempted to restrict the selection of content. We would be worried about what people would like and dislike. But perhaps in the long run, I’ll find investors who will want to finance these films. There’s also some revenue to make with video hits and ads, but that isn’t the point now at all.”

Aishwarya has an inner circle of people who go through all the short films that come her way.

“We can’t be too scrutinous as most of the filmmakers have very little money. We can’t expect the films to be of ‘festival quality’. As long as the script is decent and the events flow without disturbance, we are happy. It always helps if there’s a nice message at the end too.”

Right now, Ten Entertainment is promoting only South Indian short films. “North Indian films — and films in languages like Tulu, Urdu and Marathi — are getting good exposure already. Perhaps once we grow, we could expand to such languages.” For now, the YouTube channel will be releasing four films each in all the four languages, every Thursday.

Watch these, and you could earn yourself bragging rights should one of the directors go on to make it big.

Getting started:

1. Make a short film in any of the four South Indian languages with a duration that is less than 20 minutes

2. Ensure they are subtitled

3. Mail it to submit@tenent

ertainment.in

4. If selected, remove all private links

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