Pawan Kumar is an entrepreneur. In 2012, when Kannada cinema was in dire need of the next-wave movement, he made a crowded psychological thriller Lucia, which inspired many filmmakers to break the formulas tried and tested in the industry. In 2020, during the Kovid -19 epidemic, Pawan launched the filmmaker United Club (FUC). During a period when the film industry was staring at the uncertain future, FUC ensured activities related to cinema, such as online film screening and discussion, continuous.
In 2023, he surprised everyone by chasing farming, a step that came behind his last direction film, Dhom, Fahad Fasil starring and produced by Homebell Films, Many people realized that this was his way to deal with the failure of the Malayalam film. Pawan says that he never thought about farming by doing films. “I can’t say that I went completely into farming. We bought a piece of land and I had to find out what to do with it,” they say.
In a field called Passowaes in Hullahalli near Mysuru, wind fruits and vegetables grow, and plants of plants. After completing a permacultant design course, full involvement in wind cultivation meant that his enthusiastic followers had to wait a bit to return to cinema. Actor-Filmekar organized a couple of film production workshops against the picturesque background of the farm. In one of his videos, he compared farmers to authors, calling them the fundamental origin of a quality product.
Keeping the comparison of farming with films aside, Pawan noted, “You can live without movies, but you can’t say the same about food. Farming is an eye -opening experience. When I thought I used to think what goes into growing food, it was a huge lesson, and I can work with a great plan.
After a two -year gap, Pawan revealed to a surprise that he had returned in front of the camera. He plays the lead role Shoda, Upcoming Kannada Zee5 original web series. To premiere on 29 August, Research It is reportedly optimized by the Hindi web series Search. Apart from this, Siri Ravikumar and Arun Sagar acted, Research There is a psychological thriller about a man’s desperate discovery for his missing wife.
Pawan Kumar in the Kannada web series ‘Shoda’. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“Corporates have their own reasons for not investing in Kannada. So I was excited when I came to know that the Zee5 was eager to the Kannada origin. If we do not respond to such demands from the platforms, we will be caught in a chicken-end-egg position. I jumped into the project without reading my contract. I always live without acting,” He said.
Also Read: Filmmaker Pawan Kumar returns to stage with one-man show after half a decade
Sunil Mysore (Orchestra Mysuru fame)The director is, while the stand-up comedian Suhash Navrathana wrote for the script Shoda. Pawan is credited as a script doctor. “Even though I tried to become just an actor in the first few days on the set, my writer-director side would be a pop up without my knowledge. I suggested some twicex. ResearchIn addition to modifying some lines in the script. I tried to elevate the existing material, and the whole team was fine with it, ”Pawan explains.
Pawan Kumar Interview | Kannada web series ‘Shoda’, ‘Dhom’ setback and returning to the direction
Filmmaker-actor Pawan Kumar, who took a brief interval after the Fahd Fasil-Star ‘Dhom’, returns with the upcoming Kannada web series ‘Shoda’. , Video Credit: The Hindu
Directed Time Loop drama Kudi Yedamith AHA and co-guided Netflix diastopian drama Leela Starring Huma Qureshi, Pawan is not new to OTT space. The filmmaker admitted that he would like to find out the web series space. “A web chain puts pressure at the box office. Today, like exceptions Tourist familyAnd Su to su, The films that are doing well are “event films” which are large on the scale. My movies are an intimate experience, and I look at the scenes in a more niche manner than the film a ‘Masala’. In a web chain, you can tell a story through several dimensions instead of following a template. ,
Dhom, A thriller who addressed the sick effects of smoking,Pawan’s first failure was. With a popular production house (Homebell) and one of the best actors (Fahd) of the country, the film looked like a certain-shot hit on paper. However, it stumbled at the box office. Pawan says that the result of the film has left him a confused, although now he knows where he went wrong.
“Until the day of release, I showed the film to so many people, including some OTT platforms and the heads. All of them gave positive response.
“The video where the Alfred Hiccup talks about the ‘bomb moment’ is quite popular. He says that if two people are talking and there is a bomb under their table, then you have to show the bomb first and then they have to talk. Dhom, I initially made a mistake of not disclosing the uncomfortable truth. If I had not hidden it, the experience of watching would be different for the audience, ”he said.
Pawan also blamed the dialogues of the original version for the poor fate of the film. “I came to know that dialogue in Malayalam was very academic and did not have his soul. I did not speak a word in Malayalam, and completely depended on the translation and direction department,” he said.
Despite the poor results, the film has found its target audience, Pawan believes. “When we released the film on YouTube, there was a sudden wave of viewers who liked the film. I put a QR code with the finish credit. People can scan me and write. I am glad that I did this because so many people did it because so many people wrote to me saying that they could be related to it. Search for its audience.”
No conversation with Pawan is complete without a query Duality, His ambitious project with Puneet Rajkumar which could not run due to the untimely demise of the actor in 2021. “Negotiations are going on to convert into a web chain. He said,” I could not decide on the lead actor, “he signs.”
Shodha will stream at Zee5 from August 29, 2025
Published – August 22, 2025 03:04 pm IST
