Ten expatriates from India in Qatar have come together to make a feature film focusing on children’s lives in Kerala. The expatriates will be providing the finances and said the movie is not going to be a commercial venture.
The group of expatriates is producing the movie under the banner of Ramleela Productions. The official announcement of the movie titled Papas (Slippers) was made on Saturday noon. The programme for the announcement was organised at The Avenue hotel.
The programme was attended by notable members of the Keralite community in Qatar and a large number expatriates to show support for the producers. Some of the notable people at the announcement included Beena Pradeep, Adarsh Koovery, Mithun M Nair, Abhilash P Nair, Ranjtih Padavil, Sanjay Raveendran, Manu Annapoorna, Rajeesh, Sivanesan Murugayyan, and Kalesh Moovattupuzha.
The announcement said that all persons included in Ramleela Production have been living and working in Qatar. They have come together to make a film mainly focusing on children in Kerala and that it is not a commercial venture. 
The producers announced that they would not collect the profits for themselves and instead donate all income from the movie to charity in Kerala.
In addition to the producers living and working in Qatar, almost all the staff members working on the project either are or have been Qatar residents. 
Talking to the Community, Pradeep Narayana, one of the producers, said, “The movie is directed by Sampath. The script and screenplay has been written by Santosh Kallat, who has worked in Qatar but eventually left for India to pursue his career in the film industry. All the camera work is controlled by Rashid, who is also an expatriate in Qatar. The editing work of the movie will be carried out by Praveen Prabhakar. The music for the movie has been written and composed by Dr Gopal Shankar.”
He said, “Papas is a story that tells of a kind of spiritual relationship between a 10-year-old boy and his slippers. The story is about the boy wanting to get new slippers. But he does not have the money and his father also cannot buy new slippers for him. It is a very interesting story and we hope the viewers in Kerala are going to like it. It is primarily a film for children.”
The producer added, “The movie is being filmed in Kunammkulam and its surroundings. It will be completed by the end of December this year. The movie will be screened in cinemas in the second week of January next year.”
Pradeep added, “I have been associated with the Kerala film industry for 15 years. I started my career as an accountant in Kerala and got associated with the industry. I know how the industry works and how movie are distributed there.”
He said, “I have made five films in Kerala. [Four] movies did good business but the last one flopped in 2007. It accrued me a huge loss and I decided not to make more films. But my friends in Qatar have convinced me to work on this project, which is mainly for charity purposes.”
He noted, “We have been looking for a good story for our film. In the beginning of this year, we got this story and started working on it.”
Dr Gopal Shankar, who composed the songs of the film, said, “I am doctor working in Qatar. I have interest in and love for music in Kerala language. I have been composing and writing songs, but primarily for myself. This is the first film I am doing. It is a great experience. I have composed the music for all songs and have also written one song.”
He added, “I like the project because it revolves around children and their innocent aspirations. The story is based in 1984’s Kerala. A ten-year-old boy runs after his desire to get new slippers and in due course of time he comes to age and becomes a different person altogether.”




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