Trilok Reddy makes his debut as a director with the Kannada film, Yellow Board, which features a rap song by the late actor Puneeth Rajkumar, ‘Hathro Yellow Boardu’. Chethan Kumar, who directed Puneeth in the yet-to-be-released film James, has written the lyrics for the song while Advik makes his debut as a composer with this song.
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Yellow Board stars Pradeep Bogadi, Ahalya Suresh, Monica Tavanam and Ashwin Hassan. Produced by Vintage Films, the film is slotted for a March 3 release. Trilok, has a software background and has involved real-life taxi drivers to promote his films across the state.
A still from the film ‘Yellow Board’‘ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Getting Puneeth to sing for the film was an adventure in itself, says Trilok. “We were not sure how he would respond to a newbie director asking him to sing a song. As it was our first film, we were working on a tight budget. The entire team decided to at least approach Appu sir (as Puneeth is affectionately addressed as), tell him about Yellow Board and how we feel we need his voice for this particular song. As soon as Appu sir heard the song, he was thrilled and said he will sing for us as he felt ‘the song not only depicted the lives of cab drivers but also was steeped in philosophy’.”
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Thrilled about Puneeth’s acceptance, Trilok had another pleasant surprise waiting for him. “When he finished recording the song for us, he refused to take money. He smiled and said it is his gift to the film team and the cab drivers across the world.”
Puneeth was unsure about whether he could pull off a rap song, says Trilok. “We were so struck by his humility. We wanted him to release the song but fate decided otherwise.”
Every song in the film is situational, says Trilok. “The film is made with the objective of telling drivers — lorry, bus, auto — how much their efforts are appreciated by the people and society. Be it getting bricks delivered to a construction site or a commuter on a city bus, we all depend on the people at the wheel.”
A still from ‘Yellow Board | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
His job in IT triggered his interest in taxi drivers. “We spend a lot of time in cabs and I have observed them closely. There were so many experiences and stories that I realised could be shared with the world.”
While it would have been great to rope in cab drivers to act on screen, it did not happen. All we could manage was to get a group of them, based in Marathahalli to act in one particular scene. We got them involved in the promotion of the film. We wanted them to see what we were telling through this story and wanted their feedback about the work we had done as the story is based on them,” he says.