Varied themes on screen

With Tarangini, the Kannada audience will get to see a novel-based movie after a long gap. Based on Usha Navaratnaram’s novel Ninarigadeyo?, the film stands out in many aspects. First of all, actor Mohan, who is known for his comedy roles, is essaying a serious role as a foreign-returned medical practitioner.

“Seldom, I am offered these kind of roles. In this film, I am a doctor who hails from a village but has a foreign degree. I sell the land, therefore my village gets into trouble. A factory comes up on that land and discharges harmful chemical affluents into river Tarangini, the lifeline of that village. It causes health and environmental hazards in surrounding villages. Moved by this, I start an agitation to close down the factory,”  Mohan explains.

For the first time, Tejaswini is playing a journalist who is bold enough to expose the negligence of corporate bigwigs. “I wanted to become a journalist in real life but unfortunately I couldn’t. My dream has materialised on  reel, thanks to this character,” she says. The movie has Abhijit, B C Patil, Srinivas Murthy and Shobharaj in prominent roles.

Jayahe is a complete action thriller. Once upon a time, Malashri ruled the industry with her ‘lady Rambo’ characters. Today, Ayesha, a martial arts expert, has stepped into her shoes. Studying for final year B Com at Tirupati, Ayesha is also trained in Western classical dance. Her role models are Malashri and Vijayashanthi and she says nobody can replace them as they are experts in acting and fighting. “I have grown up watching their movies. They inspired me to take up this challenge,” adds Ayesha.

The film has five songs composed by Krupakar and Delhi-based dancer Shrudda Sharma has appeared in a bhangra mixed hip-hop song. Tall and handsome Surya Narayan is doing a negative role. Avinash, Ravikumar and Ramesh Bhat are also in the cast.
18th Cross, a film that was in limbo for years, is finally set to release. After the demise of the producer, the film faced acute financial problems and was stalled for nearly two years. Ultimately, with the help of T P Siddaraju and distributor Jayanna, the film is ready for release.

18th Cross is the first film of director Shankar and second one for hero Deepak. For actress Radhika Pandit, this is the first film she started working on. “Earlier the film was scheduled for release on March 26. But distributors and well- wishers advised us to postpone it for a while as the IPL matches and exams are taking place,” says Shankar.
The film is shot in two different shades of lighting techniques. Cameramen Suresh Babu and P R Ravi have worked together to bring in special lighting effects in the movie. Arjun has composed the music for the film.
DHNS