You hardly expect a debutant director to touch a sensitive subject for his first film. But that is precisely what Australian-resident MS Anand has managed to do. Yazh is a film that focuses on the lifestyle and culture of the Sri Lankan Tamil people.

With the story happening entirely in Sri Lanka, Anand researched extensively about an ancient culture that Tamil people have forgotten. "It is all about the Lankan culture based on the ancient Tamil musical instrument Yazh. The story is set during the last ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and is about characters that belong to the Yazh culture. What happens to them during the beginning stages of the war is shown elaborately."

Anand adds, "During ancient times, Tamil people of northeast Sri Lanka, practised and developed an art culture based on Yazh, with music, song and dance, propagating Saiva Siddha Vedanta and Tamil culture and way of living throughout the known world at that time. The city Yazh Paanam (or Jaffna) was where the Tamil art and culture flourished during those times."

Yazh which mostly features newcomers, also stars Daniel Balaji, and is scheduled for release this Friday.