Thousands of bodies of the unidentified dead flow in the world’s waters, far from home as their loved ones await their return or at least a chance at a final goodbye. Sanjeev Sivan’s Ozhuki Ozhuki Ozhuki (Quiet Flows the Dead) tells the story of a 12-year-old boat boy Paakaran who, as he attempts to give a decent farewell to a corpse he finds floating in the river he is fishing in, gets embroiled in a murder case. The film unfolds what happens afterwards.
The 90-minute film is inspired by a short story by the late lyricist and poet Beeyar Prasad aka B Rajendraprasad; Sanjeev developed the script from the story. The film hits theatres on February 2.
Ozhuki Ozhuki Ozhuki is special for Sanjeev as his son, Sidhanshu Sanjeev Sivan, 14, makes his film debut. Sanjeev told MetroPlus, in an earlier interview, that his son attended a few acting workshops, ‘earning’ his role in the film. Sidhanshu is a Class IX student of Loyola School, Thiruvananthapuram.
Sanjeev directed his first film, Aparichitan, starring Mammootty in 2004. Veering off the mainstream, commercial cinema course, the New York University-filmmaking graduate has made award-winning short films and documentaries for National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel among others. One of his films, the Underground Inferno, won the Best Environmental Film at the International Film Festival of India Goa 2010 and the Ecofilms Rodos International Films and Visual Arts Festival, Greece, Abhayam — won Best Children’s Film at the International Children’s Film Festival of India, Venalodungathe — Ammonite Award at the sixth Hidden Gems Film Festival 2014, Calgary, Canada
The technicians on the film include Resul Pokkutty, editor Sreekar Prasad, music by Tuomas Kantilinen and the cinematography is by Manoj Pillai. The others in the cast include Soubin Shahir, Baiju and Narain.