Nagarjuna Sharma, Sandeep Sunkad, Rukmini Vasanth, Srinidhi Bengaluru and Chetan D’Souza during The Hindu’s Kannada Cinema Roundtable 2024 at Courtyard, Bengaluru. , Photo courtesy: Special arrangement.
Rukmini Vasanth, a rising actress of Kannada film industry, liked Upendra’s direction. uiThis was an extraordinary moment in Kannada cinema in 2024. “The fact that he was returning to the big screen as a director after almost a decade made me very curious about the film. There is a unique philosophy in his films which makes you think.
Rukmini was part of The Hindu Kannada Cinema Roundtable at Courtyard, Bengaluru, with director Sandeep Sunkar (herbivorous) and Srinidhi Bengaluru (Eyelid), Stunt choreographer Chetan D’Souza and Lyricist Nagarjun Sharma. The mention of Upendra’s film, which hit the screens on December 20, 2024, prompted a discussion on film literacy among Kannada audiences.
“During the pandemic, people were exposed to films from around the world. Nowadays, they are intolerant of bad content,” said Chetan. Reiterating his views, Nagarjuna said, “The audience is smarter than the filmmakers.” “They are decoding every dialogue and line of a song,” he said. However, the panel was unanimous that fans form opinions about the film in advance and draw their own conclusions about the film based on the trailer or a glimpse.
With a great mix of content-oriented films and the big screen, it was an interesting year for the film industry. Nagarjuna wrote lyrics of viral songs Bhima, Composed by Charan Raj. This was Nagarjuna’s second collaboration with actor-director Duniya Vijay. Salaga.
Artists during The Hindu’s Kannada Cinema Roundtable 2024 at Courtyard, Bengaluru. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“I had a lot to learn from the film’s album. The emotions vary from one song to another. ‘Don’t Worry Baby Chinnamma’ sounds fun but it is also a funeral song. The idea was to balance the serious aspect of the song with a high-spirited, fun tune and lyrics. ‘Psych Psych’ sounds like a song written to boost the hero’s swag. But it also conveys the hero’s warning to his rivals. ‘Aadi Ba Magane’ is the exclamation of Bhima. He is ready to destroy his enemies.”
For Rukmini, after the intense portrayal of lost love in Hemant M Rao’s film Sapta Sagardache Aloe Movies in 2023, like starring in star vehicles Bandariyal, Bagheera, And Bhairathi Ranagal was about reaching a wider audience. “I know there are people who don’t watch romantic dramas. Even if I put all my strength into my character in a relationship drama, he will not be interested in the film.
“For them, a superhero film or a star-driven film is a must watch. That’s why Bagheera And Bhairathi Ranagal I was interested. I knew from the beginning that my character got very little time in both the films. Despite my characters having little contribution to the story, my aim was to make them memorable,” he said.
action in BagheeraSet a new benchmark in the Kannada film industry. Chetan said, “We wanted the fights to be simple and close to reality.” “Punches, impacts and falls should look natural. Bagheera does not have superpowers. We had to make people believe that he was a common man fighting for justice,” he said. On the contrary, in max, The focus was on his screen presence and style during the fight scenes in this blockbuster film starring Sudeep. “This is Sudeep’s strength. “Their fans come for it,” he said.
Also read:‘Max’ movie review: Passionate Sudeep steers this high-octane action thriller with minor flaws
Thrilling herbivorous And blink After arriving on OTT platforms, it received immense praise from critics and film lovers across the country. “I have not made this film for the OTT space. Due to lack of theaters and huge competition from various films, we had to depend on the streaming space. Once it came out on Prime Video, the film got its due, with many calling it one of the best thrillers of 2024,” said Sandeep.
Srinidhi also had a similar story to tell. “Like for herbivorous, my movie blink There was demand but we could not allocate screens for the audience. Immediately after the release, IPL and general elections were major hurdles. After its OTT premiere, we got a huge demand for the Telugu-dubbed version. Incidentally, the Hindi trailer of the film received more views than the original trailer, increasing the buzz in Hindi-speaking areas,” he said.
The panelists also spoke candidly about overcoming creative challenges in their respective films. “For herbivorous, I was very excited to work with Rangayana Raghu sir,” said Sandeep.
“He is an experienced character artiste. Since he was the hero of the film, I had to bring something new in him. He is a busy actor. I used to visit him on different film sets and interact with him. The first day of shooting was challenging as there were only reaction shots. Once we got past that, it was pretty easy. That’s when I realized that he had quietly done his homework without telling us,” he recalled.
Also read:‘Vegetarian’ movie review: Rangayan Raghu, Gopalkrishna Deshpande power this clever crime drama
For Rukmini, acting in an intense scene in which she gets murdered at the hands of the antagonist Bagheera One was difficult. “I know what I am comfortable with as an actor. I like subtleties. This scene was the exact opposite of subtle. It was about expressing pain and portraying death. It is difficult for me to scream in pain during shooting and then dub it later. But as an actor I had to push my limits. We shot this scene three times. I’m glad people are paying attention to it.”
Nagarjuna, who has worked with Sonu Nigam and Sanjeet Hegde on the Kannada hit independent song ‘Mayavi’ for Salim-Sulaiman’s YouTube channel, said he aims to do more such projects. “In independent music, we need to write a complete story and express it through a song. I loved that process. Sanjeet and I are surprised by the success of the song.
The discussion ended on the question of the identity of Kannada cinema. Sandeep said showcasing the state’s rich cultural diversity can help people perceive the film industry. Srinidhi said that cities like Bengaluru and Mysore should be central characters in the story of films and not just a backdrop without any context. Chetan said it is a good sign that actors like actors Rishabh Shetty, Rukmini and Yash and composers Ravi Basrur and Ajneesh Loknath have made their mark in other industries.
published – December 31, 2024 05:25 PM IST
