Karthi, a disgruntled assistant on commercial productions, is working on an honest, personal film script, but his project is without industry backers. In the dispiriting pursuit of his dream, he loses his love and sinks into alcoholism, until he meets a kindred spirit adrift in the world.
Set in the early 1990’s, a critical period in Malaysian Indian history, the story subtly underlines the plight of the Indian Malaysians. Forsaken by the estate owners who had employed them for generations and systematically marginalized, they are forced to move to the cities and survive under harsh circumstances. Left out of the nation’s urbanization and development plans, many live in squatters and work at minimum wage jobs…
Karthi, a disgruntled assistant on commercial productions, is working on an honest, personal film script, but his project is without industry backers. In the dispiriting pursuit of his dream, he loses his love and sinks into alcoholism, until he meets a kindred spirit adrift in the world. Fire on Water, the sophomore feature from Sun-J Perumal (Thaipoosam, 2007), zeroes in on a highly particular and rarely seen milieu: the travails of artistically minded filmmakers within the Tamil media industry in Malaysia.
It is said that Nature is speaking to us, but how many are listening?
