It was a proud moment for the world of Kannada films. The credit goes to actor Sreenivasa Prabhu and director G. Murthy for creating a unique film – Bimba-Aa Tombattu Nimishagalu (Bimba - Those 90 minutes). The film has created a world record with Universal Records Forum (URF) declaring it as the "First of its kind single actor-single shot feature film in the world".
That is not all. The film also finds a place in the India Book of Records as "A divergent film, which features unique criteria such as a single actor, single shot, single location and a single instrument for the background score."
The film’s team got together on September 1 to celebrate the film’s entry into the two record books. The no-frills event was held on Sunday at Renukamba Studios, Malleswaram, in Bengaluru which was attended by theatre personalities and the media. The special guest for the event was URF representative Sunil Joseph, from Kolkata.
What was interesting was that Joseph himself is a Guinness World Record holder for his vast collection of coins, tea cups and records from across the globe. He is currently the chief editor and on the international jury of the Universal Records Forum.
Joseph said he was thrilled to be in Bengaluru for Bimba ... He also said the film is capable of entering into the Guinness records too. "While I have seen many records broken and set across the world, this film is unique as in it has four categories to hold a record in. I feel humbled to be here and present the certificate from URF to Sreenivasa and Murthy, who have become legends by achieving this feat," he said.
The duo was presented with a certificate, a scarf and a medal each from URF. The team spoke about how "easy it is to dream about films, but a herculean task to make it into a reality".
Murthy said that Sreenivasa and he worked for a year and half to build the story, screenplay and dialogues for Bimba ...
The inspiration
Murthy also added that he drew inspiration from his visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where "I discovered freedom fighters who lived in India 250 years ago. We only recall freedom fighters from the last 75 years. But we have had great fighters who have fought for our freedom 250 years ago. We seem to have forgotten those martyrs. I also visited the very prison where these fighters were held captive in a three-foot wide cell.
"We were also told that when the Indian fighters asked for water, the police would stuff bamboo down their throat and urinate into it. When they asked for food, they would shove down rice mixed with sand into their throats. All this moved me and Sreenivasa and we decided to make this film," said Murthy, who also lauded Sreenivasa for willing to act in such a film "as not many actors today are willing to experiment with different themes."
The story
Murthy also beamed when he announced that Bimba ... has, till date, been selected to be screened at 12 international film festivals.
Poster of Kannada film ‘Bimba - Aa Tombattu Nimishagalu’
The film is based on the life of Saami Venkatadri Iyer, who wrote in the pen name ‘Samsa’. He was a renowned poet and playwright of the pre- independence era. It is said that he suffered from a mental disorder known as the persecution complex and lived in constant fear of being hounded and tortured by the police. His condition deteriorated so much that he finally decided to kill himself.
But he chooses an auspicious time to end his life, which gives him 90 minutes, hence the title "Bimba- Those 90 minutes". The film takes us through the last 90 minutes of the writer, giving us a peek into his personal life, victories and struggles.
The film's music is by Pravin Godkhindi and DOP by PKH Das. The film is directed by Murthy and Sreenivasa.
