With a novel take on films

When Churikatte hit the screens, audiences expected it to be a typical masala potboiler with a hero, a heroine and a villain. Also, with a cast including the likes of Achyuth Kumar, Sharath Lohisatwa and Pramod Shetty, one could almost predict the storyline. But, the movie's director, Raghu Shivamogga, decided to make a stolen pistol the hero! Says Raghu, "Churikatte is a crime thriller about how a stolen pistol wrecks the life of different people, and has the backdrop of timber mafia. For me, every story comes to life with an incident. If I feel strongly about it, then I weave a story around it. This film also has some timber mafia incidents that I had heard about in Malnad and North Canara regions during my childhood."

Willing to experiment

With a near-perfect storyline and an exemplary cast, the film earned rave reviews. For Raghu, this was proof that there's an audience for content-oriented cinema. "Just look at the Kannada films that have hit the screen in recent times. New directors are coming forward to gamble with innovative stories and are winning. U-Turn, Godhi Banna..., Lucia, Rama Rama Re... all worked with the audiences. Proof that while 90% of Kannada films conform to the ready-made formula of a hit film, 10% are out-of-the-box ones," Raghu asserts.

With Churikatte, Raghu became a part of the ever-expanding league of new-age Kannada film-makers who dare to make films that don't ride on the fandom of big stars alone. While he does agree that big stars draw in big audiences, he lays equal importance to content, too. "Only if the content is strong does a film work. Stories with absolutely no conflict won't be interesting, and how innovatively you present the conflict is where the real test lies," he says. Even though Churikatte is Raghu's directorial debut, he isn't new to the entertainment industry. He has dabbled in theatre, television and short films, and quite successfully, too. Raghu was born and brought up in Shivamogga. He joined the reputed theatre group of Ninasam when he was just 19 years old. "After joining Ninasam, I realised how big a platform theatre was. Ninasam is also where I got hooked on to literature and world cinema. After finishing the one-year course, I worked at the Ninasam repertory, touring villages in Karnataka with our plays," Raghu reveals.

As is the case with every aspiring youngster, Raghu also headed to Bengaluru to try his luck. He took up a job with Prakash Belawadi in his Centre for Film and Drama. In charge of a small theatre there, Raghu handled film screenings and festivals, and was inadvertently exposed to world cinema. Soon, acting offers came in and Raghu found himself acting in the Kannada serial Mugilu before stumbling upon film-making. "Prakash Belawadi always told me to take up his short-term film-making course as he believed I was more suited for that role. So, I took it up and around the same time, got the opportunity to direct plays at Abhiyana Theatre School. I learnt how concepts taught in the course could be implemented practically."

Behind the screen

This was when Raghu realised he was far more passionate about film-making than acting. "I decided to start small and made a documentary on a summer theatre workshop I conducted for kids in Belagavi. Prakash's thumbs-up to this documentary gave me the confidence to do something bigger," he explains.

The directing bug led him to make a short film, Nirikhse, which director B Suresh loved. He then offered Raghu the chance to direct hour-long telefilms for Udaya TV. More direction offers followed, allowing this aspiring director to exercise his film-making muscles. He proved his abilities with the popular serial Madarangi, which completed 670 episodes on air!

But Raghu's best work was yet to come. In 2016, he made the short film Chowkabara, which went on to win the state award for the best short film, and was also the first short film in Karnataka to be released in theatres. "When I did not have the money to make this film, Satish Ninasam and Achyuth Kumar offered to invest because they believed in the story. When I looked at the final product, I realised it had the feel and impact of a movie, and hence shouldn't be restricted to the digital medium alone. I released it in theatres and got a phenomenal response. That was true affirmation that there were people who liked my vision," says Raghu.

About his future projects, he says, "I don't want to make films with a message per se. But I want to make people think, while entertaining them."