A crime thriller on screen

In an industry that is known to be male-dominated, a group of young women teamed up to make a Kannada movie called ‘Ring Road Shubha’.

It is supposedly the first time, not only for the Sandalwood industry but also the rest of the country, that the technical side of a big-budget film is being handled by women. 

It wasn’t easy getting started and they almost lost hope. “It started off as a small dream. It wasn’t easy, we faced many hurdles,” said Priya Belliappa, the director of the movie. Rekha Rani, who wrote the dialogues and lyrics, said that they ran around to get permission for an all-woman’s team. 

The movie is inspired by Shubha, who has been charged with murdering her fiance on the Ring Road. “We didn’t want to make a comedy or a love story; we wanted something that would intrigue and entertain people. Shubha is our inspiration but there are many Shubhas out there,” said Priya. Ranjini Ravindra Das, the producer, made it clear that the crime thriller is nothing more than a masala entertainer and isn’t passing judgement on the on-going case of Shubha. 

“It’s not really an inspiration but just a thread that hold the story together.” 

   Priya said that the criminals deserve whatever punishment they get and their film isn’t a biopic or a documentary of what happened on that day. “There are many parallel stories taking place and this is just something that ties them together,” she said. 

The film, which started off as a small budget production, has spent Rs 4.5 lakh and has everything a masala film should have. Vani Harikrishna, the music director said that unlike most movies, they have tried not to import singers as much as possible.

 “Most directors insist on getting the musicians from Mumbai but Priya let me take singers from Bangalore. As an artiste, I understand how hard it can be and I was very glad,” said Vani. 

Priya and her team have pulled off a feat that most people would fail to recognise. Now one must wait to see the end result of the team’s hard work.