Private Project

ACHAPPA'S ALBUM

ACHAPPA’S ALBUM

SYNOPSIS
Appu is a 14-year-old young teenager living with his parents in his father’s opulent city bungalow house. His parents are both working. Despite their affluent status, Appu has always found his parents fighting over trivial matters – which has an impact on his personality. He has become the school rowdy and the family troublemaker.
His mischiefs land him in serious trouble when he accidentally hurts their family maid, whom his father gives the respect of a mother. Furious, his father throws him into an attic as a punishment. There, he finds his magician grandfather’s album, which magically transfers him to their ancestral home, to his father’s childhood when he too was 14 years old. There he meets his grandpa, who tells him that the album works as a both ways time-travel portal for 48 hours.
Appu meets his 14-year-old father Kuttan. They decide to swap places and live each other’s life for 48 hours. While experiencing widely different lifestyles, they start enjoying the positive aspects of both times.
Appu is overjoyed to find out that his father was also a trouble-maker and all his tall claims of being an obedient boy and a sincere student was nothing but a hogwash. He also finds out that his father used to be a really talented person with numerous creative skills, and an excellent leader because of his helping nature. During Onam, Appu enjoys a family lunch, but makes the women of the household to sit and eat together to prevent gender discrimination – which surprises everyone around. Appu realizes the value of having a family, and living a simple, active life with friends. He is also overjoyed to see young Malli, his mother, as a talented child dancer, who loves to dance while his father Kuttan plays the tablaa. These aspects of his parents he never knew.
Kuttan, on the other hand, reaches the modern age. To start with he is confused and excited with all the facilities that our time offers, but deep inside he misses his own time. By nature, he is kind and culturally inclined, which reflects in his behaviour, surprising everyone. His parents, even the family maid, is surprised with his changed behaviour. Especially when he starts celebrating Onam in the traditional way – which everyone has forgotten in their busy city life.
Kuttan finally manages to make his parents realize what they are losing by getting stuck in the rat-race of life. It's basically him trying to help his own future find its mojo, so that when he becomes happy, that makes everyone in the family happy.
For the 48 hours they live each other’s life, they have numerous adventures and misadventures – but that makes the father and the son understand each other better. In both worlds, they are misfits, but they raise above that feeling and enjoy their trip across time. When the hour arrives for them to return, they face obstacles because the portal is time-bound, but do manage to return to their own worlds.
Unknowingly, they change the past, and thereby, the future. While Kuttan has reminded Appu’s father of his precious childhood memories and the need to be happy, Appu has planted a seed of modern thoughts into the past, impacting the thinking of a patriarchal society. Appu returns to a home where his father is now playing the tablaa and his mother has resumed dancing, while Kuttan in the past decides to rethink his life decisions, and follow his heart in whatever he does.

  • DEEPTI PILLAY SIVAN
    Director
    DIRECTOR OF DECODING SHANKAR
  • SANJEEV SIVAN
    Writer
  • NATIONAL FILM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIOM PRITHUUL KUMAR
    Producer
  • SIDHANSHU SIVAN
    Key Cast
    "KUTTAN & APPU"
    OZHUKI OZHUKI OZHUKI
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 58 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    December 31, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    200,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    Malayalam
  • Shooting Format:
    DIGITAL
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16"9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • NFDC
    Distributor
    Country: India
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - DEEPTI PILLAY SIVAN

Deepti, is a Law graduate with an MBA Degree in Entrepreneurship, enhanced her knowledge in different spheres earned additional certificates from three International Universities. She has a varied experience & an enviable track record of a quarter century; in divergent streams of the media & entertainment industry that includes Films, Television, Animation, Radio, Curating for Film Festivals & other events. Her extensive expertise focuses on Leadership, Administration, Content Conceptualization, Acquisitions, Content Affiliation, Public Relations, Media Partnerships, Syndications, Media Strategy, Acting, Direction & Production.

In her distinguished career in the Entertainment Industry, she had embarked upon her unique & spectacular journey as Actress, when she made her acting debut in the popular Malayalam super hit film "Kallipattam".

Thereafter, she got into Production Design & finally Direction. She has represented films at various National & International Film Festivals; done partnerships & appearance deals with celebrities in the film industry; monetized & synergized media partnership for many projects because of her excellent contacts in the various entertainment industries.

Going over a few highlights in her career, in 1996 she was Associate Creative Director for Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL) Mumbai, & was involved in hosting the glamorous Miss World ’96 Pageant in Bengaluru.

She was the Production Coordinator of one of the premier animation content creators in the country, Toonz Animation India, which crafted many award-winning films.

Her calling & passion being films, she moved on to Film Production. In the role of Production Designer she has handled feature films in Bollywood & Malayalam especially those from the family stable of the ‘Sivans’. She went on to do Non-Features, Advertisements & Documentaries for National Geographic Channel, Al Jazeera, Public Service Broadcasting Trust & Media Corp-Singapore etc. She also handled worked for the Government of India projects for the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

Thereafter, she headed and launched five new FM Radio stations - Red-FM & brought the radio channel to leadership position from the year of the launch.

She profitably launched two new Television channels in Malayalam for South India’s largest television network Sun Network & in record six months brought it to 2nd position.

Deepti, joined Zee TV as the Business Head, & successfully launched the television channel "Zee Keralam" headquartered in Kochi, South India. The new channel was launched by then Governor of Kerala Sri P. Sathasivam; in a record time in the history of television launches in just ten months, on 26 November 2018. She was promoted as Commissioning Head- South;

Her contribution to the creative world as a Director of a documentary titled “Decoding Shankar" on the life & works of renowned singer & composer, Grammy Award winner Shankar Mahadevan, was chosen in the “Indian Panorama” of 49th edition of International Film Festival of India at Goa. This documentary film drew rave reviews from both the critics and cinema buffs alike, both domestically & internationally. The film travelled to various International Film Festivals and won awards too, across the world like Cannes, Tokyo, London, Stuttgart, Jecheon International music & film festival, Madrid to name a few. There by making her the First Indian Woman Director to win 25 International awards for a film.

Deepti is married to the acclaimed filmmaker Sanjeev Sivan belonging to the distinguished family of filmmakers- ‘The Sivans’; who are well known internationally & domestically for their meaningful cinemas; which have earned them international, national & state awards for their films and contribution to the film industry.

Deepti’s recent work includes a documentary “Gods Own Kingdom” which is on the world’s richest temple the Padmanabha Swamy temple, the latest viral trending Anthem on the Indian Navy “Call of the Blue Waters” which was unveiled by the President of India on the Navy Day, Produced a Feature Film “Ozhuki, Ozhuki, Ozhuki” which is doing the rounds of the festivals across the globe.
Deepti just completed her Directorial Debut feature film titled “Achappa’s Album” for National Film Development Corporation India.

Deepti is fluent in English, South Indian languages & Hindi. She is self-driven, go-getter who relishes opportunities to make the impossible possible, by motivating her team with zeal, passion & spirit. She believes in the "Just Do It" philosophy, & trusts that where there is a will there is always a way.

A passionate worker with a sense of humour and people management skills. She has a knack of finding solutions to every problem & motivating her team; inspiring them by raising aspiration, ambition, confidence to think different & to stand class apart in whatever one does to achieve the zenith of success. Sky is the limit for Deepti. Nothing can stop her from achieving her burning desire to live up to her motto of "Second to None”. During her spare time she loves spending with her family and doing charity work for the aged people.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

ACHAPPA’S ALBUM
DIRECTOR’S NOTE: DEEPTI SANJEEV SIVAN
Who doesn’t like to fantasize on time-travel? There will be rarely a person you will find who hasn’t made mistakes in life, and doesn’t want to go back in time and rectify them, to have a better present. There will be yet others who would want a peek into tomorrow, to figure out what the future holds for us. Time-travel is a fantasy that will be there till the end of time, and there will be films around it.
But that is not the only reason why I made Achappa’s Album.
My film stemmed out of an intense emotion. It’s a father-son story, where the father and the son replace each other for a limited period of time. This happens when both of them are teenagers, and gives them an opportunity to peek into each other’s life, and maybe understand each other a lot better.
This story appealed to me because it attempts to bridge the gap between generations. Being a mother of three sons, I have sensed how generations are often judgemental about each other. The film suggests there’s absolutely no need to be so. Each generation has its plus points and negative aspects, and life is all about negotiating with those bouquets and brickbats, and emerging a winner.
Every generation takes human knowledge forward, develops a new sensibility and facilitates a world of benefits – primarily for its children to have a better tomorrow. The children, on the other hand, are born with those facilities – hence they do not realize the long hours of hard-work that has gone behind creating them. They take the world they live in for granted, without realizing the immense contribution of the earlier generations that have made their world a possibility.
What if they got a chance to go back and see what was life like for their parents? What if the parent’s find an opportunity to step into the shoes of their children and understand what they are going through, first hand?
Within that premise, we show how lifestyles have drastically changed within the past forty years. With the advent of smart technology and digitization, it’s a whole new world altogether. To show this drastic difference in perspective and attitude, our film places two teenage kids into times that doesn’t belong to them. Through their eyes, their surprise encounters with technology and lack of it, and their surging love for what they see – they embark on a journey of self-discovery that changes their approach towards life and relationships.
This is my core impetus behind making the film, told within the context of a magical time-travel scenario. Emotions rule the storyline, as the father and the son live each other’s lives.
I believe, more than a make-believe fantasy, I wanted to make a film about respecting and reclaiming human relationships. My film seeks to encourage generations to understand and recognize each other. Today’s kids will also grow to become parents of teenagers – much before they realize it. This world that our children cherish will soon be backdated and archaic to their children.
Time and tide wait for none. What’s present now has emerged out of the past and will soon become past itself. Every future is built on the foundations of past – and there will always be some good things to cherish about, in every yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Achappa’s Album is a casual, fun-filled reminder to that axiom. For me, it’s a celebration of life that has gone by, and life that is about to come. It’s a fantasy, for sure, but it’s also one that makes us think.