In an era of highly commercial movie productions, it is heartening to note that we do still have filmmakers committed to parallel cinema. K.N.T. Sastry who shot into fame by bagging the National Award for Thiladaanam is one such director. He followed it up with Kamlee on the issue of girl child.
The director has just completed shoot for a children's film in Kannada tentatively titled, Snehe Geethe , starring Nasser, Pavithra Lokesh child actors Harishitha and Praful in the main lead.
“The shoot was held in serene Tadimalangi village on the shores of Cauvery about 50 km from Mysore. It is the poignant tale of a young girl Sneha (played by Harshitha) who is unable to believe that her classmate Kitti (Praful) a role model for her in school had drowned in a boat accident. She thinks that he is alive and pursuing studies elsewhere on the other side of the river and sets on a journey in search of him without any money and without the knowledge of her parents. How her single-minded devotion to prove herself right and how she spots him form the crux of the theme,” said Sastry.
Veteran actors Nasser and Pavithra Lokesh play the boy's parents. “A brilliant actor Nasser showed one more time that he is at ease, be it an emotional scene or a comic one,” recalls Sastry during the post production work.
“As Kittu's parents they pester the boy to discontinue studies and run the boat to augment the family income.
In an act of vengeance, the boy let loose the boat into swirling waters. Nasser was at his best in this emotional scene, as he dives into the river to trace the missing hand-boat (theppa).
In another sequence, a comic one, he tries to imitate a song rendered exactly the way Srinivas rendered it and dismisses his effort that never a boatman can become a singer and a singer a boatman.”
While the Government Primary School children in Tadi Malangi provided the necessary support cast, a teacher in the school had literally stepped into play her real life role.
“It so happened that the original actor we had chosen failed to do justice to her role. I asked a teacher Ms. Poornima whether she can step into that character and she readily accepted.
Surprisingly, though she has no previous acting experience, she matched the veteran actor's performance by reacting emotionally when he came to the school to take Kittu to task,” compliments Sastry. He adds that the film is sans melodrama.
Hailing from Kolar in Karnataka, Sastry is familiar with the nuances of the rich traditions and customs of the area.
He had enriched the film with Madheswara Padas, a Kamsale Padas, a local jatre and Pichalli Srinivas singing in his bass tone, Allama Prabhu's vachanas.
