Hola Sandeep | Talking About Hola Venky | Golden Podium

Last year, we had a chat with Sandeep Mohan who made a much loved film - Love, Wrinkle-free. Currently, he is involved with his new project Hola Venky!. We got a chance to talk to him again and just like last time, it was fun.

1: Sandeep, Welcome back to TRM. Its been a long road since LWF. Let’s start from where we left last time. How was the response for Love, Wrinkle Free and when will we see it in stores or television?

SM: Thanks, yeah it's been a year since Love, Wrinkle-free released. The response was far far better than I expected and am glad that the first movie is done and over with:) Love, Wrinke-free DVD is available on flipkart and other online stores, and you can also download/stream the movie from iTunes, Amazon and other major platforms.

2: Tell us about Hola Venky!, what's the film about?

SM: It is the story of a middle-aged Indian techie and his long journey from his groin to his heart! It is too early to talk in detail, so maybe, when we are done with the edit, we can talk more:)

3: Can you tell us about the cast and crew of HV?

SM: The film stars Roger Narayan and Sonia Balcazar. Most of the other actors who appear in the film are non-professional actors, but I had fun working with them. The film has been shot with a 3 member crew - me, the Sound Recordist and the Cameraperson. Also my friend and co-Producer Giju was there too to help out. The film is an experiment, and even the process of making it turned out to be one...we had lotsa fun doing it...

4: How was the experience of shooting with such low budget?

SM: It was tough working with just a 3 people crew, with no permissions, with no or minimal light. But then I knew what I was getting into...if it was easy, everyone would be doing it right...but then I was adamant on making a 10 lakh movie...so I went ahead without losing focus and did it...But we kept it fun despite the long hours and I hope we will be able to create something unique and interesting.

5: No permits sometimes mean some problem. I guess, you guys ran into few. Is there some experience you would like to share?

SM: Frankly, I am getting used to No Permission shoots:) Yeah, you end up in lotsa trouble...you are always looking over your shoulder when you are doing such a shoot...on top of it, I was in a different country… shooting in the US...if they had caught me, I would have been either inside the jail or maybe bundled back in the next flight and air dropped back in India :) But all went okay...with some minor issues here and there... no complaints... it is all cool... I like the adventure... life is short, gotta take a few risks, especially when you have no budget to fool around with...Plus I ended up making a lot of new friends during the movie, many of them acted in the movie and gave their homes for us to shoot in...friends for life...

6: When are we going to see HV on big screen?

SM: Me and Shreyas, my Editor are still working on the Edit and we should be ready by mid or end of October I feel. Hola Venky! has been shot with a budget of 10 lakh and I wanted to treat the whole process as an experiment to see whether I can work out a model where I can tell unique, interesting stories and still get an audience to pay and watch it, either on the big screen or on the internet or maybe both...let's see how it goes, and I am very excited about the film and the process...We have some interesting people backing us who might come in as co-producers and I am looking forward to everything...

Team TRM wishes cast and crew of HV best wishes.