Popular hits for a festival crowd

Kannada films that clicked at the box-office are being shown at BIFFes, and their directors are thrilled.

All Kannada films in the BIFFes ‘popular entertainment’ section were released in 2019, and were box office hits. Among them are ‘Avane Srimannarayana’, ‘I Love You (Nanne Preethse)’, ‘Kalidasa Kannada Meshtru’, ‘Kavaludaari’, ‘Kurukshetra’, ‘Bell Bottom’, ‘Kiss’ and ‘Natasaarvabhowma’.

Kannada directors and actors are thrilled their work is being showcased to a global audience.

Rishab Shetty, lead actor in ‘Bell Bottom,’ says many directors pick up their first lessons in acting and direction from film festivals. “Film festivals ignite interest in filmmaking and inspire young filmmakers to connect to the world of cinema. You learn so much just by watching films from across the globe,” says Rishab.

Avane Srimannarayana, featuring Rakshit Shetty in the lead
role, will release in five languages on December 27.

‘Avane Srimannarayana’ was appreciated for its grandeur and scale. Sachin Ravi, director of the Rakshit Shetty starrer, told Metrolife, “Of all the films released last year, only a handful were entertaining and I am glad our film is one of them.”

Sachin says the film provided edge-of-the-seat moments. “Many said they loved the character of Srimannarayana and admired the way he went about handling the most complicated of problems with a smile,” he says.

Director Hemanth Rao’s film ‘Kavaludaari’ will be screened in both the ‘popular entertainment’ and ‘Kannada competition’ categories. An excited Hemanth says much of his cinema education came from the many film festivals he attended in Kerala and Goa. “You get to see films from across the world at festivals like these. It reinforces the idea of how powerful storytelling is as a medium and how films have the power to change and influence people’s perspectives. I look forward to watching some good cinema, especially the technically sound ones,” says Hemanth.

Director Dinesh Baboo’s film ‘Abhyanjana’ has also made it to BIFFes. Based on Thalaikoonthal, a traditional practice of senicide (killing of the elderly) or involuntary euthanasia, is still practised in interior parts of Tamil Nadu.

“We are not being preachy and telling people what is good and bad. We are only bringing forth situations that make people think,” explains Dinesh Baboo.

There are clearly two categories of people-- those who believe we don’t have the right to take away anybody’s life, and those who argue why we should not let our loved ones suffer.

Kannada hits at the festival

Avane Srimannarayana: A lavishly mounted curry Western, it showcases the comic skills of Rakshit Shetty, whose earlier ‘Kirik Party’ was a big box-office hit.

Abhyanjana talks about
involuntary euthanasia.

Bell Bottom: A period comedy inspired by the Kannada films of the 1980s. Remarkable for its costumes and props evoking a bygone era. Rishabh Shetty and Hariprriya make a charming pair. It is being remade in Hindi with Akshay Kumar as the hero.

Abhyanjana: Directed by Dinesh Baboo, it is about the practice, among poor families in Tamil Nadu, of killing the elderly. The film pits it as the right to life vs the right to free loved ones

from suffering.

Kavaludaari: A slick film directed by Hemanth Rao about a traffic policeman who stumbles on clues to a murder, and ends up digging up forgotten details.

(All released in 2019)

Three special sections

The 12th edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) opened on Wednesday. A forum for filmmakers, students of filmmaking, actors and film buffs, the festival has unusual sections this year. ‘Unsung incredible India’ features films that haven’t received due acclaim. ‘Revisiting the World Classics’ and ‘Musical Traditions’ explore the works of master filmmakers and the use of Indian classical music in cinema.