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Srinivas Krishna, Director, Producer and Co-Writer "The film noir of the 50's was just one of my influences in the creation of LULU." Srinivas Krishna burst onto the film scene with his 1991 debut feature, Masala. This bold film struck a strong chord with critics and. filmgoers. As the producer, writer, director and star, Krishna at age 26, suddenly became one of the most significant auteurs in Canadian film. Born In Madras, India, Srinivas Krishna grew up In Toronto, Canada. Most of his childhood was spent learning South Indian classical singing. In high school he started his own experimental theatre company. Theatre at a Point. Not seeing a future for himself as a professional singer he went on to the University of Toronto to study an history and painting. There, he discovered an exhaustive collection of Films in the university library. Soon. he became addicted to movies. Upon receiving his Arts degree from the U.ofT, Krishna enrolled in Philadelphia's Temple University to study cinematography. At Temple, Krishna made several short films, of which The Turned Headwas named Best Short at the Chicago Film Festival. He developed a feature-length script, Masala, based on the experiences he had growing up. With that script in hand, Krishna returned to Toronto. He sent the script to every producer he could find in the phone book:. Nobody was willing to produce the film. He made a cold call to the great Indian actor, Saeed Jaffrey, who loved the story and committed to the production. With a Star on board, Krishna approached the funding agencies, Telefilm and the OFDC. Before he knew it, he was shooting his first feature. Masala was completed, in 1991 and the exciting and outrageous movie was a hit in numerous film festivals around the world. IT took critics and audiences by storm, receiving tremendous reviews. Masala was called everything from "an audacious comedy" to "a bawdy melange of hot-blooded daydreams." Following the release of Masala, Krishna received his MFA in Cinematography from Temple and managed [o incorporate some extracurricular travel and research in his schedule- In London, while promoting the release of Masala, Krishna began serious development on the screenplay for his second feature, LULU. In Canada, prior to shooting LULU, Krishna
adapted and directed a hair-hour dance film Burning Skin, for the CBC and
wrote a play, The Performing Art. He also wrote, directed and produced an
experimental short, TellMe What You Saw. With the completion of the
post-production of LULU Krishna has returned to writing a novel that he has
been working on between film projects. It is an hiscorical work about the
life of a political officer during the British rule of India. His play, The
Performing Art, will premiere next year in Toronto. |
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