A college student has made a quick movie and also embedded a message in it, earning himself appreciation.

Seemant Pradhan's hour-and-a half-long movie - Smiling Tears - was made in 19 days. The movie, with a budget of around Rs 1.25 lakh, has been produced by Rao Films, West Bengal and Pradhan Films, Patna. Nav Umeed, a non-government organisation attached to Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, and Rang Maati, a film theatre group in Patna, have supported the initiative.

The plot revolves around the love life of a couple of college students. "The movie targets the mindset of every college student in the most attractive way. It covers politics, gossip, fights and love. It also comes with a moral," said Seemant, who is also the scriptwriter.

Students from prominent colleges of Patna, including National Institute of Technology, National Institute of Fashion Technology, Patna Women's College, JD Women's College and Magadh Mahila College, attended the premiere on Saturday at the Indian Medical Association hall.

R.N. Dash, the chairman of Rang Maati, Vinod Anupam, a National Award winning film critic and Sunil Kumar Gupta, a film producer, were present at the premiere. "The youth from this state indulge more in Bhojpuri movies than in mainstream cinema. I am happy that the students made a such a good movie with a message for the youngsters," said Dash.

Seemant, a third-year BIT-Mesra student, said: "We took auditions in January after completing the script. The story is an original one. The students who acted in the movie do not have any experience with the camera, so they are essentially non-actors."

The movie was shot at several locations in Patna, including Sanjay Gandhi Botanical Park, Ecological Park, Airport road and BIT Mesra campus. Students used a DSLR camera to make the movie.

" Smiling Tears is a story of two boys and two girls from an engineering institute. One of the boys, Satyam, falls for Tanya, who is a senior. The other girl, Riya, too falls for Aditya, a senior - Aditya," said Kishan Jhunjhunwala, a third-year student of BIT-Mesra and also the assistant director for the movie.

"The story depicts the ups and downs in their love stories in the background of college politics," he said.