The story of Randhawa is inspired by an owl’s cry

Bhuvann plays the lead in Kannada film Randhawa, and says his role is inspired by mythology

The haunting cry of an owl spurred the writing of a book which has now been made into a movie, Randhawa. Writer-director Sunil Acharya, who has forayed into film-making with Randhawa, says the cry was similar to that of a woman crying in pain.

Haunted by the cry, Sunil began probing it and the result was Randhawa. “I was riding home late one night. It was past midnight and I suddenly heard a sharp cry from a distance. I didn’t stop and rode on. But that sound haunted me for the next three days. Later, I heard a similar cry when I was in Bandipur forest. That’s when a friend, an ornithologist, said that it was the sound of a Spot-bellied eagle-owl.” Sunil says, adding: “Why the owl sounded that way it did has an interesting history and mythology to it.”

Randhawa’s lead actor Bhuvann Ponnanna has three shades in the film. And juggling these three characters was no easy task, concedes Bhuvann. He sports the look of Robert, a photographer and an ornithologist, Rana and a prince from a royal Haryana clan called Randhawa. “The three shades perfectly tune into each other and don’t overlap at any point. It’s the story of how a photographer goes in search of an owl and what happens forms the rest of the story,” explains Bhuvann.
The actor says that he has worked very hard to get into the skin of all these characters. “Robert is someone who likes to keep to himself and never lets anybody get a hang of what his real emotions are. Rana and Randhawa are tougher. Their appearances also change,” he says.

How did he prepare for them? “I have acted in 60 plus dramas. My course abroad taught the importance of method acting and on-camera performance. For Robert’s look, I locked myself in the room for three months to look and feel every inch like the character. For Randhawa, I watched at least a dozen films to understand the body language and style of how a Prince would perform. I had to lose weight and look toned,” adds Bhuvann.
The movie has been made to appear as realistic as possible.

“The use of VFX adds to the drama. We have also used 14 string and six tribal instruments to give the music a different feel. There are also enough instances of humour thrown in keep the entertainment quotient running high,” explains Bhuvann.