Dinakaran Chandrasegaran and Aaron Rao’s Tamil-language film “Rajathanthiram: The Piano” is a thriller that weaves together elements of mystery, romance, and humour into an entertaining whole.

Written by Phoenix Dassan and starring local talents K S Maniam, Govind Singh, Shamini, and Irfun Zaini, among others, it tells the tale of Arumugam, who owns a unique piano that conceals a valuable item.

Its secret compartment can be unlocked only by playing a specific melody, which Arumugam divides into four parts and teaches to his children. But when Alzheimer’s disease later affects his memory, the piano’s secret is forgotten – until dangerous individuals pursue his family to unearth the hidden treasure within.

At a press screening recently, Dinakaran and Aaron, both 34, shared more about their journey towards their big-screen premiere. As it turns out, they didn’t cross paths in filmmaking class, as you might imagine – instead, the pair met when they were seated together during their studies in medical imaging!

“We realised quickly that we both loved films,” Dinakaran told FMT Lifestyle. “I had a small Sony Ericsson camera phone at the time, and we used to experiment with shooting all sorts of videos.”

“I would play a scene from a movie, and the other person would enact and try to recreate the scene, shoot from different angles, all with a small phone,” Aaron recalled.

“Filmmaking is not too different from medical imaging,” Dinakaran laughed, “except we would have been producing X-ray images instead of a movie.”

After completing their advanced diplomas, the duo went their separate ways but remained in touch. During a catch-up session, they began talking about their dissatisfaction with their careers, and the idea of filmmaking was rekindled within them.

“We thought, hey, why not try something with that? It’s now or never. I mean, we have nothing to lose,” Aaron said.

Thus began their journey in 2020, with “just six people in a room coming up with script ideas”, he added. “Three years later, we can finally see the result on the big screen. It is as exciting as it is nerve-wracking.”

Being novices, they relied on the support of their friends in the industry, who were instrumental to their learning. Among them was Moonnila, their ex-college mate turned established actress, who also stars in “Rajathanthiram”.

Aaron and Dinakaran eagerly joined her on sets, observing and assisting the crews in various capacities.

“Many times we were just doing simple jobs like carrying around camera equipment, but that experience taught us what it takes to make a film and what goes on behind the scenes,” Dinakaran said.

It was only while making “Rajathanthiram”, however, that they truly comprehended the challenges and responsibilities that come with being at the helm of a movie. And as they embarked on production, they went up against unprecedented hurdles in the form of the pandemic.

With lockdowns in place, “we couldn’t go out to various locations, and had to improvise scenes based on what we had in the vicinity”, Dinakaran revealed.

Their challenges did not end there: sadly, their editor passed away during post-production, resulting in 30% of completed edits that couldn’t be used, and requiring their new editor to start from scratch.

The directors pointed out that it was their cast and crew’s support and resilience that allowed them to overcome these obstacles and complete the movie.

Amidst post-production, Dinakaran and Aaron managed to direct two short films, 2021’s “Ahamkara” and 2020’s “Deepavali: A Naragasooran Tale”, the latter of which received accolades in the Zee REEL short film competition held that year.

Today, as “Rajathanthiram” begins its run in cinemas, they are calling for Malaysians from all walks of life to support local productions.

“The Malaysian Indian film industry is very small. We want to see it grow because there is so much talent among our community,” Dinakaran said.

“As filmmakers, we will do our best to make sure audiences are entertained and satisfied, but it’s not possible without people’s support.”

“We want everyone to treat this film as a Malaysian film, not just a Tamil film,” Aaron concluded.