A student of journalism and literature, Abhaya Simha, recently hogged the limelight by making the Tulu film industry proud with his film, Paddayi. The film, a modern day take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, won the National Film Award for the best Tulu feature film.
A decade ago, Abhaya also won the National Award for his debut film Gubbachigalu (2008). In between, he made two more films — Shikari starring Malayalam superstar Mammootty and Sakkare starring Ganesh.
According to his own admission, his was a quite a late entry into films. While studying at St Aloysius College, he assisted a friend to make a documentary and reveals he was attracted by the power of the medium. His next step, naturally, was Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. While studying filmmaking, Abhaya says he met the best brains in the film industry and got an opportunity to learn from them. “Those three years opened up a new world for me and strengthened my conviction to become a filmmaker,” says Abhaya.
When asked to narrate his experience of making his debut film Gubbachigalu , Abhaya goes into rewind mode and says,
“After graduating from FTII, I moved to Bengaluru to assist a friend, who was working on his first feature film. Six months down the line, we realised the film was not working and I was jobless. One day, I was discussing a film with my friend, journalist and writer NAM Ismail and Paramesh Gundkal (present Business Head of Colours Kannada). Ismail, who was member of jury of Karnataka State Film Awards, spoke of a dip in the quality of children’s films that were in competition. In fact, he wanted to make a children’s film and had a story about a missing sparrow.
The story followed two children, Ila and Anirudha, on a quest to find their missing sparrow. They set off from home with a guilt-ridden conscience that they may have been responsible for the sparrow’s disappearance. But, it is their innocence and curiosity that takes them on a trail of learning and discovery as they arrive at unusual places and meet unusual people.
When Ismail narrated this story, I realised that sparrows are disappearing due to the reduction of urban nestling spaces, rampant construction and felling of trees. I persuaded him to write the story and script for the film.
We wanted the film to educate elders, besides children on the predicament. The idea was to make the film entirely from a child’s perspective. Calvin and Hobbes, a daily comic strip by American cartoonist Bill Watterson and Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll guided us to find a perfect format.
The world of surrealistic things started to open doors for us. There were two worlds — one known to us, which we have not explored because of the pressure of urban living and the other a magical one which could be seen only through the eyes of children.
The dilemma I faced during the making of the film was whether the film should be popular. For any creative person, directing a children’s film for his debut, is a risky proposition. Yet, the risk factor did not bother me. Writer and producer of film and television serials, B Suresh and his wife Shylaja Nag, took up the responsibility of producing Gubbachigalu .
Vikram Srivastava, my classmate from FTII agreed to work as the cinematographer and Anmol Bhave another friend, composed the music, while Narahalli Jnanesh edited the film. Jayadev and Sagar assisted me as associate directors.
After auditioning over 30 children, we zeroed in on Abhilasha and Kashyap — students of Bimba Theatre School as the protagonists of our film. Anu Prabhakar, Rajesh Nataranga, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Girija Lokesh, Achyut, Mandya Ramesh, Kari Subbu, Rangayana Raghu agreed to be a part of the film.
We faced challenges on a daily basis and it became a routine to address them by pushing our limits. We shot the film continuously for 19 days without a break.
The editing was completed in 10 days. We recorded a song by Jayant Kaikini, which provided a new dimension to the film altogether. Vikram was with me, when the first print was handed over in Chennai, I cannot explain the state of my mind. We called our teachers in FTII and informed them about our film. We, along with Suresh and Shylaja Nag, watched the film for the first time in Prasad Lab, Chennai. The film got the Certificate of Central Board of Film Certification on March 31, 2008.
Immediately, we pushed Gubbachigalu to international film circuit for a ‘test flight’. The film instantly got international recognition. We were in seventh heaven, when we received a call from the authorities of New York International Independent Film Festival. The film started flying from one International Film Festival to another — from Los Angeles to Toronto. Gubbachigalu bagged the Rajat Kamal in the National Film Awards for 2008, besides getting the State Award in the Best Child Artist category.
With this nine-month journey from the conception to realisation of my debut venture ended. While shooting the film, I had no idea it would reach such heights. I was passionate about making that movie and did my best. When the end credits rolled and I saw my name there, the realisation that I had indeed created a film dawned on me. My eyes welled up and I was numb.
As told to Muralidhara Khajane
This column chronicles a filmmakers’ first efforts
