Suman Nagarkar back with a road film shot in the US

Actor who rose to fame with ‘Beladingala Baale’ is now part of Sujay Ramaiah’s ‘Babru,’ set for release in May-June. Many in the team live and work abroad.

Babru, the first Kannada film to be shot entirely in the US, is set for release in May-June.

The unit has completed the shooting and is now busy with post-production. ‘Babru’ is the first project of Yuga Creations and Suman Nagarkar Productions.
Directed by Sujay Ramaiah, it has Suman Nagarkar in the female lead, while Gurudev Nagaraja is its executive producer.

Babru is a comeback film for Suman, popularly known as Beladingala Baale (Moonlight Girl),
in remembrance of her role in the eponymous film.

Suman says the film will be released in May-June.

“Ours is the first Kannada film to be shot entirely in America. A few Kannada short films and documentaries have been shot in America, but not a full-length feature film,” Gurudev says.

Gurudev left for the US in 1999 on an assignment in the IT sector and settled there. He has now ventured into filmmaking, he says, to reinvent himself.

Professionals from Karnataka working in America have come together for the film.

Besides Kannadigas, non-Kannadigas, American and Spanish artistes are involved in the film.

The Lok Sabha elections, the 12th season of IPL, school and college examinations will be done in the next three months, and that is when the film will hit the screens, Gurudev says.

“We launched the project in February 2018 and shot on weekends and holidays. Sometimes, we took 10 days off from work to shoot,” he says.

Babru deals with journey of two strangers from Mexico to Canada. It is a suspense drama lasting two hours.

The strangers meet accidentally. Towards the end, they realise they are both from Karnataka.

Choreographer Mahi Hiremath, who runs a dance school in America, is cast against Suman in
the lead role.

The total distance travelled in the movie is 1,500 miles, but in reality, the cast and crew travelled 10,000 miles.

On the title, Gurudev explains: “Babru is actually the name of a car which plays a major role. In America, you can have your name printed on the number plate by paying an additional fee. Babru in Kannada means Vaahana (vehicle). Hence, we chose it for the car.”

The film shows parts of America never before seen on the Kannada screen, he says. “We want to prove that Kannadigas living abroad can make films abroad. Our project will surely inspire many others,” he says.

A capella music
Babru will be the first Kannada film to use a capella music, according to Gurudev. A capella is music made with voices mimicking musical instruments. Poornachandra Tejaswi has composed the music.