FILMOGRAPHY (WORK IN PROGRESS 2010)
Personal Actualizations & Upcoming Community Projects

THE COCONUT (Feature Length Film)
Deepak K Menon Credits: Producer, Original Story, Writer, Screenplay, Director, Editor

Current Stage: Script Development (2011)

And It All Begin When... Someone Asked On My Thoughts on Migration A mature Coconut may be able to journey for thousands of sea miles with its sprouting viability intact. Sometime ago, a seaborne coconut drifted onto a Malaysian shore. When relocated to an appropriate climate, the Coconut, now known as the Diaspora Coconut readily sprouted. With him, wherever he went, the Diaspora Coconut only knew one way of life. An ancient way of life mystically transcended onto him. Only with this way of life did the Diaspora Coconut believe he could achieve self actualization.  The question remains, could the thousands of years of faith, traditions, cultural values, and beliefs be sufficient for the Diaspora Coconut Generation to survive in this new land they call home? Contact DEEPAK KUMARAN MENON Email: deepak.kumaran.menon@gmail.com Web: www.deepakmenon.info

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FILMOGRAPHY (COMPLETED 2007)
Personal Actualizations & Award Winning Community Projects


CHALANGGAI also known as Dancing Bells (Feature Length Film, 2007)
Deepak K Menon Credits: Co-Producer, Original Story, Co-Writer, Screenplay, Director, Editor

Original Title: CHALANGGAI
English Title: Dancing Bells
Country: Malaysia
Genre: Family Drama
Duration 98 Minutes 33 Seconds
Language: Tamil, Malay, Mandarin, and English
Subtitles: English subtitles
Shooting Format: Digital Video (DV)
Screening Format: Digital Betacam (PAL), Betacam SP (PAL), SONY DVCAM (PAL), PANASONIC DVC Pro

Watch the full film via YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jo1fvYWK6s

Production & Distribution Credits
One Hundred Eye & MyFoto Studio

Synopsis
Uma lives with her mother, Muniammah, and elder brother Siva, in a soon to be demolished neighborhood secluded in the backyards of the rapidly developing Brickfields township. The occupants of the town are strictly addicted to a daily routine. Just another routine addict, Muniammah owns a small make shift stall knitting and selling jasmine flower garlands to support her family needs.

Raja, Uma’s father neglected the family after severe disagreements with Muniammah. Since. Muniammah has single handedly cared for her children’s needs. Siva, a seventeen-year-old school drop out works as a car wash attendant. The demanding city life and the lost of a father figure affect the family deeply. This gives constant pressure to Siva as he turns to secretly hate his father even more.

The estranged Raja regrets his past and attempts to return home. The family is torn between emotions, as they feel even more vulnerable. A string of mishaps fall upon the family and they are forced to confront the many realities that lay ahead of them.

Muniammah turns to her flower knitting routine to hide her feelings. Siva shoulders his burden in silence to deal with his lost. As for Uma, she dreams of pursuing her interest in dance.

Director's Note
Dancing Bells (Chalanggai) is an extension of the director’s previous work, The Gravel Road (Chemman Chaalai). The Gravel Road portrayed some of the conditions of the rural Malaysian Indians occupying the rubber estate in the late 1960’s.

Dancing Bells is a community film of family, hope and dreams that portrays some of the social, cultural and economic conditions of urban living Malaysian Indians in the present time Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The film shall look into the aspects of urban living social issues of the ethnic Indians such as education suppression, unemployment, dysfunctional family values as well as racial segregation that most Malaysian Indians encounter in their daily lives.

Dancing Bells is a story that shall be explored with subtle treatment.

Awards & Nominations
Special Mention Best Asian-Middle Eastern Award, 20th Tokyo Int, Film Fest.  
Best Digital Film Award, 20th Festival Filem Malaysia
NETPAC Best Film, 9th Osian’s Cinefan Int. Film Festival, India
NETPAC Special Mention, 36th Int. Film Festival Rotterdam
Script Development Fund, Hubert Bals Fund, Rotterdam
Seed Grant, All Roads Film Project, National Geographic Society
In Competition, Bangkok Int. Film Festival

Malaysian Screenings / Publications
Art Talk, University Sarawak Malaysia
The 6th International Malaysian Studies Conference, Kuching, Sarawak
ASTRO Vellithirai
20th Malaysian Film Festival, USM Penang, Malaysia
Golden Screen Cinemas, International Screens, Kuala Lumpur & Penang
8th University Science Malaysia Film Festival, Penang, Malaysia 

International Screenings / Publications
37th Festival International Du Film De La Rochelle
Jakarta Int. Film Festival, Indonesia
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
20th Tokyo Int. Film Fest, Japan
12th Pusan Int. Film Fest, Korea
17th Fukuoka Int. Film Fest, Japan
Rio De Janeiro Int. Film Fest, Brazil
30th Asian American Int. Film Fest, US
9th Osian’s Cinefan Fest of Asian & Arab Cinema, India
5th Bangkok Int. Film Fest
Asia House London, UK
28th Durban Int. Film Fest, South Africa
Back Lot Int. Film Fest
31st Hong Kong Int. Film Fest, Hong Kong
36th Rotterdam Int. Film Fest, The Netherlands

Appraisal
"Appealing leads and a nicely honed feel for family relationships characterize "Dancing Bells," helmer Deepak Kumaran Menon's follow-up to "The Gravel Road," also set in Malaysia's Tamil community. Current pic uses the aspirations of a young girl from a broken home to comment on minorities coping with urban marginalization, but Menon's approach is far from polemical, and his narrative skills often too piecemeal to create a lasting impression."

"Just as in his first film, Menon draws a beautifully realistic and detailed portrait of a family that has to survive and above all has to maintain its dignity. The film was shot entirely on location in Brickfield and the cast is made up of local amateurs. This makes Dancing Bells not only authentic, but also emotional. These are real feelings of real people portrayed in a realistic way." – Gertjan Zuilhof, Film Programmer, International Film Festival Rotterdam

"Appealing leads and a nicely honed feel for family relationships characterize "Dancing Bells," helmer Deepak Kumaran Menon's follow-up to "The Gravel Road," also set in Malaysia's Tamil community. Current pic uses the aspirations of a young girl from a broken home to comment on minorities coping with urban marginalization, but Menon's approach is far from polemical, and his narrative skills often too piecemeal to create a lasting impression." – Jay Weissberg, Variety.com
“One of Asia's largest cities, Kuala Lumpur exhibits growing pains as it pushes outward, consuming once undesirable neighborhoods through gentrification. This insightful look at how one Tamil family copes with the impending doom of urbanization beautifully captures the rhythms and sounds of daily life. Without a trace of sentimentality, the film gets under the skin of the individual family members, organically unfolding their personal dreams and struggles for a better life.”  - The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

"Above all, I appreciate the film for being situated in a very Malaysian locality, and filling it with real life-size characters. I'm particularly concerned (and very disturbed) about this issue, coz there are doubters who would question whether such films can be categorized as Malaysian, coz they deal specifically with a certain community. I think your film has helped to provide a clear answer to rebut those kinds of criticism. Works like Menon’s challenge misconceptions/preconceptions, push boundaries and give meaning to the New Malaysian Cinema. – Wong Tuck Cheong, President Kelab Seni Filem Malaysia

"Deepak Kumaran Menon is a very sensitive, talented and professional film director whose work is highly focused. His work is not commercially driven but expresses the desire to communicate a more serious content that appeals to our enquiring mind and sensitive nature. Deepak’s intense portraits of Malaysian lives, particularly of Indian families living on the edge of society, are not politically motivated but simply insights of life as it is. In Deepak’s film we identify with his protagonists. We empathise with the emotional turmoil experienced by his protagonists as they wrestle with the impact of urban living, lack of opportunities and education, as well as a clash of gender as a result of traditional type-casting and upbringing. The latter often results in the subsequent empowerment of women and the rise of his heroes or heroine above his or her harsh environment. Essentially, Deepak gives us a glimpse of how humanity copes with life and its challenges. Deepak gives an insightful perspective of multi-racial life in Malaysia." – Tuan Ramli Ibrahim, Dancer, Guru and Artistic Director of Sutra Foundation

"Menon's beautifully naturalistic second feature was shot entirely on location with a cast of neighborhood amateurs, and reveals a minority community under stress in the shadows of developing Malaysia. – Jacob Wong, Film Curator, Hong Kong International Film Festival

Contact
DEEPAK KUMARAN MENON
Email: deepak.kumaran.menon@gmail.com
Web: www.deepakmenon.info

 

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FILMOGRAPHY (COMPLETED 2005)
Personal Actualizations & Award Winning Community Projects

CHEMMAN CHAALAI also known as The Gravel Road (Feature Length Film, 2005)
Deepak K Menon Credits: Co-Producer, Co-Writer, Screenplay, Director, Editor

Original Title: CHEMMAN CHAALAI
English Title: The Gravel Road
Country: Malaysia
Genre: Family Drama
Duration 92 Minutes
Language: Tamil, Malay, Mandarin and English
Subtitles: English subtitles
Shooting Format: Digital Video (DV)
Screening Format: Digital Betacam (PAL), Betacam SP (PAL), SONY DVCAM (PAL), PANASONIC DVC Pro

Production & Distribution Credits
One Hundred Eye & MyFoto Studio

Synopsis
Chemman Chaalai is a drama set in the 1960s in a rubber estate in Malaysia. The story revolves around a rubber tapers family living in the estate. Shantha comes from a poor family. She lives in an estate, where higher education for woman is near impossible. Shantha aspires to leave the estate and further her studies. However, due to many unfortunate circumstances this dream becomes a difficult one to achieve.  

Director's Note
Malaysian Indians have little control on the economy and politics in Malaysia. A way forward would be education. Chemman Chaalai is full of hope. The film emphasis on the importance of education for the growth of the community and nation.  

Awards & Nominations
Best Alternative Film, Anugerah Skrin TV3
Special Jury Award, Nantes Festival 3 Continents, France
Opening Film, Asian Film Symposium, Singapore
In Competition, Bangkok Int. Film Festival

Malaysian Screenings / Publications
ASTRO Vaanavil 
Golden Screen Cinemas, International Screens, Kuala Lumpur & Penang
Kelab Seni Filem, Private Screenings

International Screenings / Publications
48th San Francisco Int. Film Fest, US
34th Rotterdam Int. Film Fest, The Netherlands
27th Nantes Festival 3 Continents, France
20th Tokyo Int. Film Fest, Japan
15th Fukuoka International Film Festival, Japan
10th Pusan Int. Film Festival, Korea
9th Toronto Reel Asian Film Fest, Canada
8th Buenos Aires Festival Independent Cinema, Argentina
7th Barcelona Asian Film Festival, Spain
7th Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival, India
6th Kaushung International Film Fest, Taiwan
Asian Film Symposium, Singapore
Bangkok Int Film Fest
MOV International Film Festival, Philippines

Appraisals
“The Gravel Road (Chemman Chaalai), from young Malaysian director Deepak Kumaran Menon, is one of the loveliest and most movinfilms I’ve seen in years. One has had grounds for asking recently: is this still possible, a work that never strikes a wrong emotional or dramatic note, that uses the camera to evoke quite precise and definite moods, whose performances (by non-professionals) are understated and nearly flawless, that contains a subtle but persistent and deeply-felt protest against social and national oppression? Such a film exists. And one has to feel heartened by its appearance.” – David Walsh, World Socialist Website

“Quietly lyrical "The Gravel Road," Chemman Chaalai's first feature, observes life on a rubber estate with the kind of delicate attention to detail that recalls Satyajit Ray” - Dennis Harvey, Variety.com

“The Gravel Road is an equally rare instance of Tamil-language Malaysian filmmaking. At once brooding and beautifully shot mainly in moonlit forest groves and lonely, muddy lanes, Menon's story (from a screenplay by his mother) about a teenage girl's determination to stay in school despite her family's desire that she uphold tradition and surrender to a life of menial day work takes equal inspiration from Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy and Malcolm X's assertion that a race, like an individual, can only find fulfillment through confidence, talent, and an unwavering belief in itself.” – Chuck Stephens, The San Francisco Bay, Guardian

“In simple and honest style, Menon tells a story that captures the plight of a typical working class family… The story is told in the typical style of an independent film and therefore something that all discerning cinema-goers should experience. Most things are implied but the result is powerful. Without being obviously tragic, the film is sad and touching but presents hope as well.” – Rubin Khoo, The Star

“A lens on the Malaysian margins” – Lim Li Min, International Herald Tribune

“Motivation for the poor Indian teen in the estate, perhaps. But the film could serve a larger purpose motivating his race, independent filmmakers, and Malaysians at large to be proud of our cultural heritage, especially the things that remind us of how humble we once were.” – Brian Yap, KLUE

“The first thing we think about when someone mentions an Indian movie is the dancing, singing and generally 3 hours of (sometimes) torture. However, "Chemman Chaalai" (The Gravel Road), the first Malaysian Tamil feature movie, isn't your typical Bollywood fare. Instead, it is a film of self-discovery, and a look into the life of Malaysian estate Indians in the 60's.” – Nigel Yap, Cinema Online

“The strength of Chemman Chaalai is in the sparkling subtleties with which it depicts the socio-political and cultural inadequacies of the Indian community at large.” – Nantha Kumar, The Star

Contact
DEEPAK KUMARAN MENON
Email: deepak.kumaran.menon@gmail.com
Web: www.deepakmenon.info

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