Kannada films received a lot of praise at the 10th edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes). Among the 200 films chosen for screening from across the world, 30 per cent films are Kannada films like March 22, Hebbettu Ramakka, Reservation, Shuddhi, Chamak, Hebbuli, and Mooka Hakki . While the festival is a feast for cinema enthusiasts, it also offered enough academic fodder for aspiring filmmakers.
Three directors – S Krishna, Pawan Kumar, Adarsh Eshwarappa – talked to Metroplus about how technology is being employed to not just make their films, but also market and distribute them online . Adarsh Eshwarappa has not used any tech tools to make his film “except for a drone shot” but has used tech extensively to reach out to a global audience. He released Shuddhi on Netflix yesterday“Netflix is all about reaching out to a global audience. It increases your viewership and once you have captured that audience’s interest, you can also take risks as a filmmaker and not depend only on theatrical collections to get your money back. Maybe, you can also make a film just for Netflix. The best part about it is there is no censor board there,” he giggles and quickly adds that nothing “can beat the thrill of watching a film on the big screen. We filmmakers are so ready to explore and create films, the question is how ready is our audience?”
Almost every panelist at BIFFes took the example of director Pawan Kumar in his/her session. Pawan was applauded for his films and his knack of using technology for crowdfunding, marketing and releasing his films on Netflix. According to Pawan, if a filmmaker is savvy enough, he can be more independent in the way he handles his film in the post-production phase. He feels that it is important for a filmmaker to be tech-savvy. “Tech helps you take your film to many people across the globe. Film as a cultural entity has been pretty strong; films depict society.”
He reveals that he always wanted to go about making films using social networking platforms, instead of following the “old-school path” and it gives umpteen options to keep going forward. “The challenge now is not just to make good films, but make our films as good as world cinema .”He says releasing films on Netflix has got his films a Japanese audience ,adding that “soon Kannada films will be seen not just by Kannadigas across the globe but by any film lover.”
Cinematographer-turned-director S Krishna’s, Hebbuli, starring Sudeep, was also screened at BIFFes. He has used tech-filmmaking tools extensively in the film, he believes that tech helps in telling stories in an engaging manner. He is now working with Sudeep on a new film , which he says is not a tech-driven film. but is shot in a 3-D driven format. “I have used this for every boxing sequence. This has been done so that everyone involved in the making of this film will know what angle they can shoot the scene in and so on. It looks like a 3-D cartoon film,” says the director, who has also roped in a Hollywood stunt master for this film. He reveals that the Kannada film industry is prepared to use technology extensively in cinema. “We have been using it in every stage of filmmaking. The only glitch I see is the finance -- some aspects of tech are so expensive that we cannot afford them. Once it is accessible financially, we too are willing to use every possible feature to create engaging films.”
