Natesh Hegde's directorial ‘Vagachipani’ opens to full hall

Bengaluru: “This is the first time my film has been introduced in Kannada and is being presented to Kannada audiences,” said an elated Natesh Hegde, director of ‘Vagachipani’, at the film festival. It was screened in the Asian Cinema Competition. It opened to a full hall.

‘Vagachipani’ is based on Amaresh Nugadoni’s short stories, ‘Tamandhada Kedu’ and ‘Dhare Uridare’. “The movie's intent is the same, but I made modifications to suit the medium,” Natesh said at the Q&A session after the screening.

Set in Vagachipani village in Sirsi, the film follows Pathi, a minor and mentally diverse shepherdess who is discovered to be pregnant. Her employer, played by Achyut Kumar, who aims to be the village’s head wants to cover it. “I have seen someone just like Pathi when I was studying in Sirsi. Someone brought a young girl with a bump in her stomach and left her near the bus stand. But she disappeared after a while,” he said, adding he always wondered what happened to her.

Veteran Paresh Kamdar is the film’s editor and it is produced by Anurag Kashyap and Natesh.