Sandringham gets a taste of Kollywood

Sandringham Reserve was host to lights, cameras and action in an interactive art exhibition on Saturday afternoon.

Directed by Ahi Karunaharan, the Kollywood Extra exhibition invited people to immerse themselves in the making of a faux film.

An all-South Asian cast played the ‘crew’ on the set. There was an arrogant lead actress and a stressed-out assistant director.

The audience had the opportunity to become extras by learning dance moves and auditioning for roles.

Mr Karunaharan said he was inspired by the films he watched as a kid.

Kollywood cinema films are made using the Tamil language, the heart of which is in Chennai, east India.

“As a child growing up, I watched a lot of Tamil movies. For us living in New Zealand, being away from home, it was a touchstone.”

To him, representation is “shining the light on the people in the margins, who we don’t always get to see”.

He said Kollywood is overshadowed by, or associated with, Bollywood rather than being seen in its own right.

Freelance producer and writer Ankita Singh, who was an extra on the day, said the show was making theatre more accessible to a community who may not otherwise get involved.

“Theatre can be a bit intimidating, especially for the Indian community, because those are quite white spaces.

“Being able to bring it out here into the public is activating the space, making people feel welcome and showing them that ‘look, I can do it too, I can be an extra on a film set, why the hell not?’”

Padma Akula, a Production Manager at the Manukau Institute of Technology, said the event gave kids the representation they do not usually get.

“If you see [the] mainstream media, it’s usually not South Asians, and that’s okay to a certain extent,” she said.

She said it was good for kids to be represented so they can see the “possibilities and mentors and say, ‘I too can do stuff like that’”.

Ms Akula was backstage managing the set’s makeup booth, where she gave the extras star treatment. Extras received winged eyeliner and lipstick before heading to the green screen for a picture.

Aspiring Bollywood actor Dinesh Kumar said he came along “for a good time”.

“It’s fun. It reminds me of home.”

He said he liked seeing the diversity of the crowd, which had “people from all over the world”.