Karthik Subbaraj is giving it back ! - Event Story

Karthik Subbaraj is a visionary - Balaji Sakthivel 

 

Karthik Subbaraj has bridged the gap between aspirants and film-makers - Ram 

 

Karthik has made the process of casting much easier - Balaji Mohan

 

Karthik is a hi-tech guy - Balaji Tharaneetharan

 

Karthik's love for Tamil is well known - Badri

 

All the best to my dear friend for his futuristic thought - CV Kumar 

 

Karthik rocks - Thegidi Ramesh

 

Karthik is giving back now - Su. Arunkumar 

 

Karthik has the time for such activities? - Gnanavel Raja

 

Karthik Subbaraj is a household name now. He has made two highly impactful films that were commercially successful and muted the critics as well. When asked about floating his dream project now out of all the times, he says, "I was also a beginner. It needed two important films for me to create an attraction both from the public and media to finally declare about a vision that could help lots of independent filmmakers, budding actors and in globalizing films also."

 

Karthik Subbaraj - "We couldn't get anybody to host. So I'll do the honors today. We've named this 'Stone-Bench' because of the unforgettable moments I had at a stone bench in my school. I used to sit there and write all my scripts, for, be it the annual-day or my very own short films. It has come along with me, in my process of becoming a film-maker. I did have my share of hardships, but through this ideal platform, we are very particular about generating a parallel cinema that can still be monetized. Stone-Bench comprises of three sub sections namely Benchflix, Benchcast and Benchsubs. 

 

Benchflix is where you send in your short films. We acquire your short films, select them if it's really worthy and screen them. Satyam cinemas are our theatre partners. We are planning to screen 6 back to back short films by December  and that'll include a short-film made by celebrity film-makers like Thegidi Ramesh, Balaji Mohan, Nalan, Arun Kumar and a lot others. Even actors like Siddharth and Vijay Sethupathi have shown interest to be part of such films. This acts as a crowd-puller and we definitely are planning to share the money made with the producers and the directors. Starting by this December, you'll have a day at Satyam to watch very interesting short films by the best talent. We are even planning to screen the films at other metros like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi and overseas as well. This will give a chance for the short film makers to exhibit their movies to a larger audience, get noticed and at least retrieve their production cost.

 

Benchcast is even more exciting. It is an online space like FB where you create a profile for yourself, submit photos and videos of your performance. The industry gets to watch it and might track you down for a chance in the silver-screen. There are packages and you get services accordingly. There is so much talent outside and you can't go through the meticulous process of manually selecting them. Lot of times, these things go unnoticed due to the director's time crunch. Benchcast will bridge the gap between aspirants and film-makers. The process of casting becomes extremely easy now. Budding actors who dream of acting can also know if directors are noticing their talent and they'll get message notifications for auditions, if any, and get to feature in a film if they are really and genuinely talented. There are no possibilities for casting directors to miss interesting talent! 

 

Benchsubs is our ambitious effort to do subtitling for feature films. Subtitling is an art by itself. It is about globalizing films. There are worthy films that don't transcend because of language constraints. If English films can be watched across the world, Tamil films are no less. Like world cinema having specially dedicated audience in India, we can create specific viewership for Tamil cinema all over the world. Benchsubs is one such try."

 

Bharathiraja - "En iniya Thamizh makkale''. I couldn't sleep for three continuous days after watching Nayagan. After that, Jigarthanda didn't give me sleep for two days. Karthik is a bright chap. He will go a long way. After watching Jigarthanda's trailer, I accused him of showing too much violence. He proved me wrong with the movie. With this Stone-Bench, get ready to be surprised again. He is a smart guy who has got his plans. My days of trying to be a director were extremely painful. But through such a platform, real talent are going to get opportunities and I'm so happy seeing this smart kid going places. Best part ? He's from my place."

 

S.J Suryah - I wanted to become a director after watching Kizhakku Cheemayile. I used to literally go to Bharathiraja sir's house everyday. I would jump before his car when he was leaving for the shoot. One day, I successfully abducted him. I asked him, if he could include me as an assistant. Bharathiraja sir said, 'I have ten assistants. Kill one of them and join'. There were times when I felt like killing one of them and joining the team. Those were our times. If Karthik is going to makes things authentic, ''Hats off'."

 

The whole event also had a presentation that visually spoke about Stone-Bench and also a hard hitting musical-documentary directed by Karthik's assistant Rajendra Bala.

 

This is a true vision !!!