'Richard Linklater movies gave me strength': 'Gantumoote' filmmaker Roopa Rao

The director's debut Kannada film is refreshingly bereft of box-office baggage

Updated - July 06, 2022 12:13 pm IST

Roopa Rao

Roopa Rao

We live in times when it’s not easy to entice anyone into paying and watching a movie. Even recommendations need endorsements from reliable sources. ‘Gantumoote’ is definitely not an enticing title for a film about pubescent relationships, but Roopa Rao’s debut effort is straight from the heart. There’s honesty in her writing that transforms incandescently into warm, relatable visuals about characters you start caring for.

The reactions of the carefully written characters in key situations are simply charming, and the lines they speak are easily relatable. She doesn’t take sides or preach, nor does she fall prey to popular tropes. ‘Gantu Moote’ is refreshingly bereft of box-office baggage. Of course, the few who uphold and guard our morality deemed a film about teenage angst to be watched only by adults. Very rarely does everything seem to fall in place especially in cinema. ‘Gantu Moote’ is one such gem by design. Roopa has a master’s degree in finance and worked with Infosys before throwing it all up and chasing her true calling.

I heard you worked in ‘Vishnuvardhana’?

I was the co-director. That was my introduction to the film industry per se, practically to learn the technicalities.

It’s a difficult decision changing careers from a cocooned existence in Infosys to something you have no clue about.

Absolutely. I took about nine months. It was a difficult gestation period. In college I wrote and was doing theatre. I loved films but didn’t foresee this would happen. I didn’t know the process to become a filmmaker. In the US, we went to Broadway shows. I was blown and probably realised my calling. It was a trigger. After a lot of introspection I resigned. Like you said it’s not easy. I was 27 and my mom was talking about others my age being married with kids.

‘Gantu Moote’ looks like visual pages from your diary. There’s an undercurrent of catharsis. Am I right partially at least?

Partially yes, because the line gets blurred between fact and fiction. I’m sure the trigger must have been my personal experiences or what I’ve absorbed. I didn’t see a representation of the world I existed in on-screen. World cinema opened my eyes. Watching Richard Linklater’s movies gave me strength. I connected. Times were changing. Like you said it could be some pages from my life. My first boyfriend’s name was Madhu. All of us have gone through these experiences of first love and first kiss, haven’t we?

Coming-of-age films borders on the bawdy, usually. Your treatment is very sensitive. Were you tempted too?

It’s not conscious. I tell stories the way I perceive life. I find that physical expression is an extension of what’s happening inside. It’s hormonal at that age. It’s very active but that’s not how it is for me. I didn’t draw lines that I wouldn’t cross. There was one situation but I thought it would be too strong.

The girl in the beginning says they shifted to the city because the family is scared she will elope. Isn’t that an anomaly? People are wary of the big, bad city

I grew up in Kolar. I’ve seen this happening. Every other street had an ‘eloping case’ as it was called. There was a fear of the family getting a bad name.

The voiceover is an important tool taking us into the girl’s mind...

With an actor like Teju, I could have done away with it. She’s phenomenal. Meera, the girl is a writer. Kids without siblings tend to write their thoughts. I thought it was natural that she narrates her thoughts. It starts in the past tense moves to the present before going back.

This story had to be set in the 90s, because you don’t see that awkwardness or precociousness in today’s kids?

(Laughs) Yes, it had to be set in the 90s also because I’m a sucker for romance, and like you said it can’t happen now. We have too much information. My eight-year-old says things that I wasn’t even thinking when I was 19.

Your treatment in scenes that could have been predictable, is fascinating

I’ve seen my own boyfriend and situations around me. There’s a sense of dissolution when you realise you have to accept the person for what he is, especially after the honeymoon period. I wanted to bring in that.

I wanted the girl’s point of view. When the auto guys take the boy away I stay with the girl. The voiceover is crucial in explaining her predicament later. About the teacher, well, I’d really want elders to intervene but with sensitivity rather than parents being summoned.

The casting seems to be spot on. It’s not something you can plan especially with newcomers

I just got lucky. I’d seen Nischith at a workshop but Teju happening was pure magic. Some things just fall in place.

Like most filmmakers, you are in a quandary in the climax about whether she’s at the crossroads...

That’s how I always feel about life. The movie is done with but what now, where am I? There’s a constant sense of seeking. You just imbibe an intense experience and I wanted her to convey that. I watched ‘Castaway’. I thought the end was incomplete yet so complete. Life is always full, always empty you know.

You’ve not used technology to promote your film effectively..

Everything costs money these days. I don’t have a budget for promotion. This is a crowd sourced film.

So how’s it doing?

I’m overwhelmed by the way it’s been received.

It’s ironical that your target audience is being kept away by the censors..

Yes, it’s ironical. It shows a segment is stuck in a time warp. I did question them. This is not a war that can be fought within walls. Is it okay showing violence, smoking and drinking? It’s the bigger heroes who influence youngsters.

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