Mahadeo Shivraj is back at it again…Set to produce courtroom drama film set in Guyana

Aug 09, 2015 News

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During an amorous tryst with a young woman, an inexperienced young man has his bliss interrupted when the girl’s lover startles them. A fight ensues and, in the fracas, the lover is fatally shot.
Against this backdrop, the young man’s father is faced with a dilemma: does he act within the confines of the law or outside of it? Just how far would a father go to protect his son?
This is the storyline behind Somnauth Narine’s “Protection Game”, and already the month-old script has garnered a high profile cast and is expected to blow the Guyanese public and the world away.
In fact, Narine’s script will be in the capable hands of well-known Guyanese Mahadeo Shivraj, who will not only be acting in the adapted film but also producing and directing it.
In an interview with Kaieteur News, Shivraj explained just how the idea for this murder/mystery, suspense/thriller film came about.
According to Shivraj, Narine is a close friend of his who is an extremely talented writer. It was Narine who conceptualized the storyline and, after just a month of writing, premiered the finished work.
“He discussed with me what he was thinking about and I just thought it was really good. All of my movies fall into different genres and I like change; I like something different,” Shivraj said.
He continued, “He’s [Narine] just really good. I don’t know how he does it but he just worked for an entire month with the idea and would call me for advice. And when he sits down to write he’s just flowing.”
Shivraj described the film as filled with bawdy West Indian humour, love, devotion and adherence to law.
After the script was finished Shivraj began doing his bit; he began hunting for persons who would fit the nearly 30 speaking roles. He admitted that finding cast members to fit the characters had not been difficult. He shared that, when asked, everyone was enthusiastic to be a part of his latest project. Only four roles remain to be filled.
Amongst the cast are renowned actress Margaret Lawrence, well-known playwright Godfrey Naughton, Max Massiah, Nirmala Narine and Akash Persaud.

 

And even though the movie is yet to begin shooting, Shivraj is confident that it will be successful.
The film will be shot in Guyana and is the first of Shivraj’s films to be shot entirely in the city. His others had been primarily focused on the country areas of Guyana.
He said that about a third of the movie is set to take place in the High Court while there will also be a lot of scenes in police stations.
He added that he is aiming to shoot between September 18 and October 15. He said too that the actual shooting takes the least amount of time with the planning and editing taking up the majority of time.
Nonetheless, Shivraj is already looking forward and is hoping to release the movie sometime in late May next year, preferably on or the day before Guyana celebrates its Independence Day anniversary.
Shivraj stressed that the movie will be dedicated to the people of Guyana.

MORE SUPPORT NEEDED
But even as Shivraj and Narine embarked upon turning the latter’s script into a movie, Shivraj noted that more support is needed from both the Government of Guyana and the Guyanese public at large.
He explained that over the years, the level of support he had been expecting never surfaced. In fact, after finishing his fifth film here in Guyana last year, he vowed to never return to Guyana until there was hope of a positive change.
Similarly, he said, Narine had also vowed to not produce anything in Guyana as well.
However, buoyed by the promise of change, Shivraj decided to give filmmaking in Guyana another shot. He also encouraged Narine to try again.
“He wrote something to film in New York but then I said let’s give it one more try,” Shivraj said.
According to Shivraj, he had been frustrated by the denial of support from the then government of the day. He emphasised that for him, support did not mean financial aid but endorsement of his products.
“All I ask is that they give my product a stamp of approval as a Guyanese product, to be proud of what I am doing and help me push it. Because otherwise, all my resources and money are used in the production and then there’s no support for it,” he said.
He went on that the budget for his movies are usually about US$25,000 to US$30,000. While this figure may be a small amount to other countries, Shivraj said it was huge to someone who used their own but got no return due to non-support.
He said too that the lack of copyright laws was also a concern of his and was stymieing the amount of money he made. “When you put your movie on DVD it is pirated so there are no real returns,” he said.
He continued, “So I’ve just kept asking over and over again for my movies to be endorsed as a product of Guyana so that others can pick it up and make it big; with endorsement it can reach a wider audience, even head out into the Diaspora. Many people here don’t know about my movies still, even though I’ve made five.”
However, he said, he recently met with three government ministers and, from their feedback, there seems to be “a light at the end of the tunnel”.
He said that it is not his hope to receive blind support. Expressing confidence in his work, Shivraj said that he is more than willing to provide a private screening where members of government can enjoy the film before endorsing it.
“Let me blow your mind with it and then I want you to be proud about it because only then you will do something about it.”
He said too that support from corporate sources is also difficult. While there had been persons over the years who have responded positively with donations, Shivraj said that he has been the one providing the majority of funds for his films.
But while such a reality would daunt other persons, Shivraj is determined to keep pushing himself and promoting his country through his work.
Within five years, Shivraj has directed five films. “Protection Game” will join “Till I Find a Place” (2010), “A Jasmine for a Gardener” (2012), “Brown Sugar Too Bitter for Me” (2013), “83 Million Gees” (2013) and “Forgotten Promise” (2014).

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