A sex education film with kids in it? ‘You've got to be kidding me,’ was the first thought that crossed our mind. But 27-year-old Uday Chauhan, the director of this film, was convinced with the idea from day one. And he shot it in Mahabubnagar, his hometown and other areas like Raju Nayak Tanda, Keshwapur, Manikonda and Narayanpet in Telangana. It must have caused quite a stir, we reckon. "The kids thought it was for a commercial movie and that they were going to play the younger version of a hero, while the villagers were extremely sceptical," says Uday who has an MA in Mass Communications with a specialisation in Direction and Screenplay Writing from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communications. It helped his cause that his mother is a principal in one of the schools in Raju Nayak Tanda. She took parents into confidence by explaining that it was not a B grade film, but one that was made to spread awareness. And from then on, things started to fall into place.
Uday has worked as an Assistant Director with many noteworthy directors and has worked as an Executive Producer as well. He is well-versed with all aspects of filmmaking, but working with children was a whole other ball game. It took him eight months and several workshops to finally start shooting. "They were not serious initially and would hardly turn up for the workshops, but eventually, all that changed," explains Uday who is currently based out of Hyderabad. For the workshops, he first asked children to recollect a moment from their life that they would never forget. As a mixed bag of tales started to pour out, he urged the kids to notice the body language and emotions of each and every one. Then, there were situational and sound classes as well. For the latter, an expert from Mumbai was called in. And on August 19, 2019, the shooting for the film, titled Season of Innocence, began with great gusto.
To capture the real essence of a village in Telangana, right down to how the film sounds, Uday opted for sync sound (recording at the time of filming). They shot through Ganesh Chaturthi and what not. With a dedicated 60-member crew, "who believed in the idea and gave it their all," vouches the director, everything was made possible. The shooting was wrapped up within 35 days and currently, they are in the post-production stage and editing is in full swing. By now, you must be wondering what the plot is. All we can tell you is that the movie is not just about sex education, but will touch upon topics like feminity and masculinity, objectification of women and other such sensitive topics. Well we, for one, can't wait to watch it!
Meet the crew:
Director: Uday Chauhan
Producer: GV Raag
Production House: Clown Network
Cinematography: Vinod K Bangari
Production Designer: Himanshi Patwal
Sync Sound and Sound Designer: Suresh Bagali
Editor: Manikandan A
Behind the scenes
For more on the director, check out instagram.com/udhaychauhan
