When four friends stuffed their bags and went on a six-month trip to the Western Ghats of Kerala in Idukki in January last year, they didn't know they would strike gold. The initial plan was limited to shadowing the scheduled tribes and watching closely their life-surviving methods. As soon as Shino Cherian, Vipin A Davis, Anand GK and Praveen Kumar Raja returned to their respective hometowns in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the budding filmmakers decided to go back; this time, however, with a better plan for their first-ever independent documentary.

Now, almost a year-and-a-half later, their film, Patters of Life: Prana, has reached the post-production stage. Looking back at the exciting journey, Cherian shares, "We all studied filmmaking together in direction and cinematography. After completing the course, we wanted to travel and do something unique. So, we went to Marayoor, Kanthalloor, Memari (a tribal village catchment area above Idukki Dam), Vattavada, Kattappana and Kumily."