Grampa's Album
A fantasy film about family relationships involving time travel, about a father and a son stepping into each other’s shoes, and shirts, shorts, socks...to live each other’s life.
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Deepti Pillay SivanDirector
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Anirban BhattacharyaWriter
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Sanjeev SivanWriter
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National Film Development Corporation LtdProducerAgantuk, Gandhi, Ankur, Salaam Bombay!, The Lunchbox, Qissa
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Sidhanshu Sanjeev SivanKey Cast
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Dr. Mohan AgasheKey Cast
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Priyanka NairKey Cast
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Aadinath KothareKey Cast
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Anjana AppukuttanKey Cast
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Project Title (Original Language):Achappa's Album
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Project Type:Feature
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Genres:Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Comedy, Drama
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Runtime:1 hour 59 minutes
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Completion Date:January 1, 2025
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Production Budget:339,000 USD
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Country of Origin:India
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Country of Filming:India
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Language:Malayalam
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
Deepti started her film career as a successful actress. After her MBA degree she worked as head of programming in the Sun Network. She helped launch Zee Kerala and Zee Punjab. She joined her husband filmmaker Sanjeev Sivan and has been working on several documentaries, features and web series. Her first documentary “Decoding Shankar” on musician Shankar Mahadevan fetched 25 international awards & screened in many festivals.
Who doesn’t like to fantasize on time-travel? There will rarely be 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 don'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 the past – and there will always be some good things to cherish about, 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.