‘Ondalla Eradalla’ wins praise for daring script

If the story and message of D Satya Prakash’s directorial ‘Rama Rama Re’ impressed you in more ways than one, then his just-released ‘Ondalla Eradalla’ is sure to set
you thinking.

The story is scripted around a Muslim boy called Sameera and his cow named Banu. Satya says, “After ‘Rama Rama..’, I wasn’t planning to work on a project immediately but the producer was keen that we work together again. I asked him for a year’s time and that’s when the idea of writing a story about a boy and a cow and their close bond struck me.”

Satya has pegged ‘Ondalla Eradalla’ on how caste, creed and religion are used to divide people rather than bring them together. “The natural calamities in Kerala and Kodagu brought strangers together. People began helping each other without differentiating between caste and religion. People should help each other, without waiting for something to happen. We must be able to share our pains and sorrows with each other,” says Satya.

The director also says that he was inspired to write the story after the moral of ‘Punyakoti’. “There’s a great moral in ‘Punyakoti’ for people to follow and emulate. Love, sacrifice and forgiveness are characteristics we as human beings should embrace, irrespective of what religion we belong to,” adds Satya.

Satya hopes the film reaches more people.”Even if films like mine have a universal theme, it may or may not reach a larger group. The moolah and reach comes only for films that have a big hero or heroine. A film like ‘Ondalla Eradalla’ has managed to attract attention but it will be a while before it reaches a larger audience,” says Satya, who feels critically-acclaimed films usually take their time to make an impact.

A large portion of the film was shot in Mangaluru. And apart from the scenic locations, music and lyrics, also written by Satya, is something to watch out for. Sharing his thoughts about the music, Satya says “If one half of the story is told through scenes and dialogues, the other is told through music that in the narrative style. This is also what makes the film enjoyable.”

Crew of ‘Ondalla Eradalla

Lavith Kumar is the Director of Photography (DOP), B.S Kempraju has edited this film, Vasuki Vaibhav and Nobin Paul have composed the music and Varadaraj Kamath is the art director.

Fresh faces

The lead is played by master Rohith Pandavpur along with M K Mata, Sai Krishna Kudla, Nagabushan. The film has roped in theatre artists from Mangaluru.