I don’t make films for awards, says Mansore, director of 'Nathicharami'

National honours for Nathicharami is the success of new generation film makers, says Mansore, director of Nathicharami that bagged five national awards

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Mansore, Manjunatha Somakesha Reddy, a visual artist turned Kannada film maker, carved a niche for himself in Kannada cinema, by bagging five of the 11 awards that Kannada films secured in various categories in the feature film section at the 66th National Film Awards announced on Friday), for his second venture Nathicharami . In fact, it is the first of it’s kind for an eight decade old Kannada cinema.

Nathicharami got awards for the best acting (Shruthi Hariharan), best regional film, best Kannada female singer (Bindu Malini), best script and best editing. Mansore’s debut venture Harivu had bagged award as the best regional film at the 62nd National Awards announced in 2015. Nathicharami , a bold take on female desire and sexuality, was chosen for the Netpack International Jury Prize at Biffes and selected for India Stories section of MAMI Film Festival.

Second success Naticharami, Mansore’s second film bags five national awards. He has started work on his next film Photo : Sudhakar JAIN

Mansore, who is busy in giving final touches to his new venture, which is all set to launch on August 25, honestly admitted that, “the film team expected an award or two. But getting five in various categories was most unexpected”. In the same breath he said for him and other film makers of his kind the National Award means a lot. “Awards in a way change the mindset of the film producers, who are tuned to a certain set format. National honours for

Nathicharami can be viewed as a success of new generation filmmakers who are set to break the traditional grammar of film making, which is starstruck,” he observes.

What does success mean to him? “I could make Nathicharami , just because of the success of Harivu , which bagged best regional film award in 2015. An award validates the fact that the path I have chosen is the right one,, narratives opted for are in right direction and provided the confidence to think differently.”

During an earlier conversation, Mansore had shared his idea on making films on Gujjar marriages (where marriages is a monetary transaction and the girl’s family receives money based on the girl’s beauty) in Kalaburgi region of Karnataka and communal tensions in coastal part of Karnataka. On striking the idea of making

Nathicharami and finally sticking to it, Mansore says: “I did not have the courage to approach the producers. I was keenly reading a column on women by writer, Ashadevi. I wondered why filmmakers did not focus on the internal contradictions in women? I shared this thought with writer Sandhyarani, who agreed to translate the idea in to narrative. This was the genesis of

Nathicharami . Shruthi Hariharan agreed to essay the role of the protagonist, Ramesh, our producer, readily agreed without asking a question and reposing faith in my strength as a film maker.”

Karnataka Bengaluru 25/12/2018 Nathicharami Film Stills to go with , Muralidhar Khajane's Film Review report. 

“I won’t compromise while picking up technical talents for the film, which is slowly shaping in my mind. Whether they suit the kind of film I am doing will be my first priority, other things follow later. I will offer them complete freedom once they become part of the making and won’t interfere. I found Gauri in Shruthi Hariharan, when the character was taking shape. She was my perfect choice. Similarly, the choice of Bindu Malini. Shruthi recommended me to watch Aruvi (2017) a Tamil socio-political film by Arun Prabhu, for which Bindu Malini composed music. I felt that only she could provide soulful and meaningful music and background score to Nathicharami . I knew Nagendra K. Ujjini from the past few years and watched films edited by him closely, I needed his kind of work. Finally, everything fell in place and the amalgamation of talents in bringing the right effect to the movie.”

Mansore doesn’t like to be branded as an “Award Winning Film Maker”. “To be honest I did not do Harivu and Nathicharami with an eye on the award. I perfectly understand the format which brings awards and expectations of juries from the film. I consciously break all those formulas while making film and try to offer them a different format. Being a student of fine arts where we used to deconstruct established moulds and reconstruct new moulds, I consciously try to create new formats, though it is difficult to apply post-modernist theories in cinema. I wanted to clarify that mine is not a negative approach to awards.

But, I am not prepared to do films for the awards . My intention is to reach my film to the people and connect with them. If the film gets awards in the process, I humbly accept them,” he says. This young film maker has a signature style of making films. He describes his style as “visuals dominated”. “Watching Nathicharami with an eye for details, you will find how I tried to fill meaning through visuals and sound, which I could not express through dialogues. I want the audience to watch my film . If they like the story, it has to be watched a second time to find out why they liked it,” he explains. When asked about his next venture, Mansore plays the cards close to his chest. “I have titled the film as Article-1978 and it is different from both Harivu and Nathicharami , in terms of content and treatment. I am planning to commence shooting by month end.”