'Andhagaara' is a film about night blindness

At a time when thrillers and unique concepts are ruling Sandalwood, 'Andhagaara' will be a trial to see what works and what doesn't.

The film is directed by Jayakumar. The movie is about a man who suffers from night blindness and takes place during a night when a couple of his friends enter his house. They attempt to lay their hands on a cache of black money hidden in the house.

Filmmaker Jayakumar has been working on this script for the last 10 years.

"The script went through at least seven to eight revisions. A lot of time had to be spent on the details of the screenplay. Though the storyline of the movie might sound very brief, to narrate the story was quite a task," he says.

Set in the confines of a house, the Kannada film is loosely inspired by Ram Gopal Verma's 'Kaun'.

"Of the many reasons I wanted to make a suspense-thriller film is because I wanted to do something in a limited budget and with a few characters," explains Jayakumar.

The first 10 minutes of the movie introduces the characters after which the story aims to capture the audience with its pace.

When asked about what will attract the audience to theatres, Nandish, who plays the central character in the movie, says, "The movie is based on a unique subject. Despite many thriller films being released in recent times, the way the story is told is bound to impress moviegoers. The climax of the movie is a stunner."

Jayakumar has pinned his hopes on the screenplay too. "No one in Sandalwood has experimented with such a plot. The climax of the movie will leave the movie buffs talking about it, even after they leave the theatres," he says.

Naveen Thirthahalli, one of the actors in the film, says the film was a very fulfilling experience.

"The main challenge faced during the shoot was to wear the same outfit, makeup and emote the same expressions, day after day," he says.

Though the actors stuck to the script, they drew inspiration from other movies. Nandish says he drew inspiration from Kannada movie 'Namma Preethiya Ramu', which stars Darshan.

Trivia
The budget of the movie is Rs 47 lakhs.
It was shot near Nayandahalli and Mathikere.
It took 34 days to complete.

No song sequences
"The best part of the movie is that there are no songs in it, simply because they have no place in the script. Also, there is no strong female presence in the project," says Naveen Thirthahalli, actor.

The Rajamouli connect
Andhagaara's editor has worked with 'Bahubali' and this gave the team a chance to show their film to S S Rajamouli. "He was really impressed by the project and said the subject had been handled differently," vouched Jayakumar.

Director anxious
Jayakumar has worked on a couple of projects earlier but nothing saw the light. "I am very excited that 'Andhagaara' is out. I have worked on the project for so long and it's every director's dream to see his vision being shared by people on screen," he says.