Chennai: For every budding filmmaker who wishes to make it big in Kollywood, an environment that fosters dream to craft films is essential.
Nestled in a tiny building painted green on second floor, Koogai Library at Valasaravakkam helps film aspirants a room to brainstorm, read and learn the art of movie-making.
Started in October 2018, the library was founded by film director Pa Ranjith along with filmmakers Athiyan Athirai, Mari Selvaraj, Kavin Antony and Murugan Manthiram.
The library has collection of over 5,000 books ranging from directing, editing, cinematography, scriptwriting to film criticism.
”The library was started by Ranjith and we all helped once the idea came up,” says filmmaker Murugan. He is part of the Koogai Library team who volunteer to run the place.
”The main aim is to help filmmakers. Assistant directors often find it hard to learn and hone the craft of filmmaking and it is difficult for them to read books. Koogai Library offers a space for such people to come in and read,” says Murugan.
Stepping into the library, visitors are greeted with bright wooden shelves that line the walls with large windows letting in pillars of sunlight to drench the reading space.
Each book is categorised based on their genre and author name. Most of the books here are in Tamil which is a boost for city-based filmmakers.
Readers are seen occupying mats laid on the floor and quietly reading in peace. One reader is busy taking notes in his pad, perhaps writing a script for his movie.
Murugan explains that the books were donated by several people from the film fraternity. ”We campaigned on social media and through word of mouth to share us books,” he says.
”We wanted to introduce new directors to read cinema literature. Visitors can only read the books on the premise and they can’t be borrowed. There are plans to bring in memberships,” he adds.
Koogai Library is located at 20, Prakasam Road, Janaki Nagar, Alwartirunagar, Valasaravakkam.