T.N. Seetharam is returning to big screen after a gap of nearly a decade. There is no need to introduce him to the Kannada television buff: he is a household name in Karnataka. He made his entry into big screen, through Matadana , based on S.L. Bhyrappa's novel and Meera Madhava Raghava , which was made in 2007.
His teleserials -- Maya Mruga, Manvantara, Mukhtha and Mukhtha Mukhtha catapulted him to fame and fortune. Though he dabbled with literature, theatre, films and politics, none of these gave him the fame that teleserials did.
Seetharam is now directing Kaafi Tota (Coffee Plantation), a crime thriller, which is in a way not his forte. However, he has mustered courage to experiment in the genre.
Ask him on his return to the big screen, he replies with the tone of an advocate (which was his profession before venturing into the creative field): “After directing over 6000 episodes of various tele serials I wanted to take a break. I even thought of completing my autobiography, which I was writing in bits and pieces. But the transformation of Kannada film industry in the last ten years has made me return to the big screen,” says Seetharam.
He continued to argue about the transformation in his own inimitable style. “When I made Meera Madhava Raghava, a narrative of family relations, Kannada film industry was more hero centric and demanded huge investment. However, in the last ten years, few talented youngsters proved that 'money is not everything and content is the king through films such as Thithi, Lucia, U-Turn, Godibanna Sadharana Maikattu, Rangi Taranga, Kirik Party etc. This change gave me courage to experiment with the-crime-investigation-court room themes, which is in a way my forte.”
“If you watch my serials closely, there is an inherent texture. Family relations, political thinking and crime-investigation-court room themes form a static thread. I have explored family relations in Meera Madhava Raghava and political thinking and critique on electoral politics through Matadana . Now in Kaafi Tota , I am experimenting with the crime narrative,”he argues.
But why big screen?
"When I decided upon making a film, the question is who will invest on the creativity of a person. On one occasion I happen to meet Yogaraj Bhat and shared my thoughts.
At that time, I had four subjects in my mind. Yogaraj Bhat advised me to opt for Kaafi Tota script. He advised me to go for crowd funding. When I posted my thoughts on face book over 650 people came forward to fund the venture. It was too unwieldy. The calculated amount they offered was around Rs. 6-crore, I needed only Rs. 2-crore to make the film. Finally, I zeroed in on 29 people. Thats how Manvantara Chitra was founded to make Kaafi Tota’,” the explanation he offered fit into the genre of short story.
In fact, Kaafi Tota is the first film being made on Limited Legal Partnership (LLP), in which some or all partners will have limited liabilities. Interestingly Kaafi Tota is the first film in Kannada, which offered insurance cover for every one working in the team, following the Maasti Gudi tragedy, that claimed two lives. “When KaafiTota was planned, the first thing that came to our mind was insurance cover. It cost the company a meagre 1.37% of the total budget,” says Manojava Galagali, CEO, Manvantara Chitra.
The film deals with family relations, a bit of politics, besides crime-investigation and court room drama. He had shot the film in Chikkamagaluru, Udupi, Varanasi, Simla, Gokarna and Bengaluru.
“A set was erected to shoot the court-room drama, which will be in a way the USP of Kaafi Tota,” said Seetharam, who himself essays the role of the advocate in the film.
Seetharam is elated about the response the trailer has produced. “Trailer launched by Puneet Rajkumar is a hit and over seven lakh people have watched it,” he says complementing the way cinematographer Ashok Kashyap has shot it. “People are asking me if I have shot the film in Switzerland. He set a colour tone for the film. Indu Ninna Edurali, Maate Beda Eniside.... song by Jayanth Kaikini composed by Mithun Mukundan is a treat to the ears,” he says.
Refusing to classify his film either as experimental or commercial, Seetharam asserts that the 70s classification has gone now. Ushering of multiplex culture has completely changed his art and commercial mindset with the audience turning more matured.
Kaafi Tota has an ensemble of cast comprising of Raghu Mukherjee, Radhika Chetan, Samyukta Hornad, Achyut Kumar, Sudha Belawadi and Sundar Raj.
