Revisiting ‘Lucia’

On its 10th anniversary, the film’s director asks audiences to revisit the first crowd-funded Kannada film.

Back in 2012, the online world was quite the opposite of what it is today. I used to feel like I belonged to a huge family of unknown but kind people, whom I had never met or may never meet, but we all knew each other and looked out for each other. This was what social media was back in 2012.

Being a filmmaker, I was able to indulge this little digital family of mine in a way, no one had ever imagined, at least in Karnataka. I had a strong craving to tell a story, and it was the kind that has been rejected by the film industry as lacking “the elements that would convince a producer about it working at the box office”. This made me sad. I shared about my sadness on a blog and posted it on Facebook. And my online family of unknown people said, “Why don’t we pool in the money, and you can make your film?”

That’s how the journey started, and 18 months later, ‘Lucia’ was released. Released 10 years ago, ‘Lucia’ became a film that left a mark in the Kannada film industry, and people still talk and rave about it. I feel extremely lucky and special that I got to be part of it. Though I am talked about as I was the sole leading face of this project, now in hindsight, I feel lucky to have been given the job.

So much has been written about the movie, its crowdfunding process, and the innovations that happened with the little budget we had. It’s all over the internet. But for 10 years, what I felt was overlooked was the magic in the storytelling itself. The process of crowd-funding, the uniqueness of setting up and executing the project, the path-breaking distribution system, all these elements overshadowed the innocence of the story and the characters. I am positive that many who watched the film have experienced the magic as well. 

I would like to request the audience to look into other aspects of the film when they view it again. Look into the characters, the dialogues, the shots, the scene constructions, the narrative, and the magic that happened there. And, even though I am the writer-director of the film, I don’t feel like taking the credit for the same, as I don’t know how to repeat this magic again. This is exactly why, I believe the universe chose me to spearhead the movie, and it did its job
through me. 

There are dialogues that are interesting, and well crafted — so much has been said in little words. There are shots that were filmed using a simple DSLR camera but have so much artistry to it. The film’s lyrics and tunes beautifully underline the emotions of the characters and their journey. The performances by the actors made the audience believe in the world. For a decade, I have felt that the innovativeness of the whole project kind of overshadowed some of the artistic work that magically happened on the sets and eventually made it to the film. 

On the film’s 10th anniversary, ‘Lucia’ is being re-released in the theatres. Give yourself 150 minutes to see the film from another point of view, and experience the magic of storytelling. Please don’t praise me for it. Instead, believe in the goodness of a community. If ‘Lucia’ is a landmark film today, the reason is the positive collaboration that happened amongst the audience. They all came together, believed in the madness, and made it happen.