BIFFes 2019: Srinivasa Prabhu's solo act in 'Bimba'

Well-known Sandalwood actor and director Srinivasa Prabhu was at the Bengaluru International Film Festival.

"Bimba - Those 90 Minutes," is a biopic of Samsa  (the pen name for Sami Venkatadri Iyer), one of the most powerful Kannada playwrights of the pre-Independence era. Srinivasa Prabhu who has co-directed the film along with G Murthy, says "I grew up watching and reading Samsa's plays and wanted to bring his life on the big screen. 'Bimba' is a tribute to Samsa's life and work."

As the title suggests, "Bimba" revolves around the last 90 minutes of Samsa's life, where he looks back at his life through the objects surrounded by him. "Bimba" is an unique experiment as the film is captured in one single, continuous shot in one location with the cast comprising just one actor.

"Such experiments help film makers to explore beyond the frames," the actor says. Prabhu, who has portrayed the role of Samsa in the film, says the film means a lot to him as he was always keen to bring Samsa's life on the big screen. Samsa suffered from persecution complex and suicidal tendencies. The playwright constantly felt he was hounded by police and that they would arrest him.

"At times Samsa used to assume his brother to be a police officer and stayed away from him," says Prabhu.

Though he did not have a formal education, Samsa was well versed in Sankrit, Hindi and Kannada. "Stalwarts of literature GP.Rajaratnam, Ananda and other writes tried to help Samsa, but it did not serve the purpose," adds Prabhu. Speaking about challenges involved in the making of Bimba, "The film was a challenge for me as well as for the cameraman, as the film is shot in a single room and all the action was spontaneous."

Ace flautist Praveen Godkhindi's music adds another feather to Bimba's hat.

Favourites at BIFFes 2019

"BIFFes gave me an opportunity to watch films from across the world. I liked 'Roma' and was also impressed by the Indonesian film "27 Steps of May." Prabhu also said he could relate his film "Bimba" with the movie "The Guilty," directed by Danish filmmaker Gustav Moller.

'Bimba' will be screened at 6.00 pm on Tuesday, Feb 26th.

An avid reader of Deccan Herald, Srinivasa Prabhu says that he loves the newspaper for our coverage of culture and traditions of the land.

Read more: Our coverage of BIFFes 2019