JOIN USThe Kannada film industry received a jolt in 2013 when Pawan Kumar’s ‘Lucia’ hit the screens. Dubbed a ‘new-age film’ and ‘one-of-its-kind’, the psychological thriller amazed critics and audiences alike. And now, the same buzz surrounds the director’s next film, ‘U-Turn’ which releases today. A mystery thriller, it pokes at the mundane topic of traffic while giving it a twist.
Pawan, who is known for his content-driven scripts, is excited to see its reception in the State. On why he picked the topic, he says, “Traffic is something that effects everyone on a daily basis, which is why we tend to dismiss it. But even something as small can turn big.” Though such narrative driven films are yet to find a steady footing in a hero-centric film market, he says that there has been a change in people’s attitude towards them. “Take a film like ‘Thithi’, it has won so many awards and is doing well commercially.
That’s a good sign. The space for content driven films is growing slowly, and compared to a few years ago, it’s much bigger. Of course, these films deserve more but change can’t be sudden; the transition takes time.”
There is truth in his words; theatres and audiences have been giving new-age film directors a chance in recent times. While there is still a struggle, people are more open-minded. “The number of shows we’ve gotten may not be as much as we would have liked but hopefully, there will be an increase in the coming weeks. It’s difficult for content driven films to do better than commercial ones in the first week,” says Pawan.
Part of his style of direction is to make people think. Pawan says that ‘U-Turn’ isn’t a documentary and doesn’t give people direct solutions, but it, “Makes them feel and think. I want the audience to go home and think about its effect, then they can decide what to do; whether to initiate a process of change.”
While he considers filmmaking as a medium of entertainment, he also wants the subject to be ‘deep’. “It should leave a lasting impression on the viewer. As an artiste, I try to communicate my thoughts to the audience and try to actively get them involved in what I have to say.” The movie isn’t star-studded and has only new faces in it. Rationalising this, Pawan says, “I picked newcomers because of the story; they were needed to make the audience believe it’s real. And it’s nice to work with newcomers.” Ask the director what are some of the works that have left an impression on him and he’ll say, “‘Fight Club’ and (Christopher) Nolan’s earlier works. They were considered new-age when they released.”