Cinematographer turns director for children's film

Ace cinematographer Amitabh Singh is looking forward to his debut as director of a children's film "Shortcut Safari", starring Jimmy Shergill.
Amitabh, who had worked with "Chillar Party" and Oscar-nominated "The Good Road", focuses on saving greens in his film, where a gaggle of children lose their way in the forest of Dangs and come across a mythical forest saviour (Jimmy).
The film is slated for nationwide release in theatres during the mid next year.
"As a story teller my primary objective is to engage the audience and 'Shortcut Safari' has a 'panchatantra' feel about it, with absolutely no complexities in the plot," Amitabh told PTI here.

About the title of his debut directorial venture, the director said, "Shortcut symbolises modern day dialect of youngsters who type 'LOL' instead of 'laughing' as the film's dialogue is peppered with such phrases.
"I also belive that when we are talking about children we are talking about our future and that makes Shortcut Safari different from other entertainers as we talk about issues confronting us. Who better than children can spread the message."

The film has already been screened twice in children's film festivals in Delhi and Kolkata.
"Such independent genre films on social issues generally find it difficult to get big distribution networks. So we targeted the festival circuit to create a sufficient buzz to prepare the ground for a commercial release," he said.

"My aim is to make the audience sit up," Singh added.
About Jimmy, he said that the actor's larger-than-life mystic character gelled well with the fantasy element in the film.
Amitabh, who knows many young and seasoned Bengali directors, said he is planning to do a film on superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee in Bengali.