Dubai: Exclusive - On the sets of Tulu movie 'Nirel'
Daijiworld Media Network - Dubai
Dubai, Apr 23: When a team of 4 young Mangalorean boys were planning to make a Tulu movie entirely in Dubai, there was talk that it would be a wasted effort. They had a dream project and wanted someone to make it real. The first person they thought of was Shodhan Prasad, a well-known person in social circles. A non-business man and hard worker himself, he never thought he would be producer of this movie titled 'Nirel'. Even though the cost of filming is very high in Dubai, he as an ardent supporter of Tulu language in this part of the world, instantly agreed to support the idea of these 4 young Tuluvas without giving a second thought.
Daijiworld, the exclusive official media partner of the first-ever international Tulu movie 'Nirel', met the movie team to learn about the progress and development of the film in the UAE.
The first international Tulu movie, Nirel made a lot of buzz when it launched during the recent 'Tuluvere Parba' event, and also started getting lot of enquiries from the readers about the progress of the movie. Though it was difficult to get through, we caught up with Ranjith Bajpe, director of the movie for an exlusive interview.
Excerpts
How much of the shooting has been completed?
We are progressing very fast and have completed almost 75% of the movie, except the songs. Till now we had 17 days (only Fridays) of shooting and the progress is very satisfactory. So hopefully within another 10 Fridays we will complete the shooting.
So that means the movie will not release as per plans?
Yes, I agree, we had planned to release the movie in April or May, but once we started the project and seeing the huge expectations from the movie, we had a serious meeting among our team members and decided to concentrate on quality rather than time frame. Luckily we have Shodhan Prasad as producer of the movie, who has always supported us in our concern for quality making. So once we complete shooting, editing has to be done, re-recording and also color grading of the movie. As everyone in the team are employed and we work for movie only on Fridays, obviously it will take time.
When can we expect the audio release of the movie?
We have already received the shooting tracks of Nirel movie. So once we finalise the date of movie release, we will plan a grand music release function in Dubai.
So now that you have the shooting tracks of Nirel, are you happy with the songs?
Of course I am happy and the team too. Songs will be the highlight of Nirel movie. Tulu industry had a golden era of music a few decades ago, I am sure Nirel will bring that glory back. There is no doubt about our music director Abhishek S N's talent. He is all set to release his first independent Kannada album, “Neralaagi”. Abhishek S N has composed 5 beautiful songs for Nirel movie. I am sure the audience will love our Nirel songs. All singers of the movie are first time playback singers and you will be surprised to see the result.
Will Nirel be a serious love story or is there any scope for comedy?
No, rather than calling it serious love story or comedy, I can say it's an entertaining love story. We have leading comedy actors like Deepak Paladka, Subhash Bangera, Claudy, Rajendra Pai, Jameel Ahmad and moreover the naughtiness of Anoop, Varuna and Dipti will surely make Nirel a joyful watching. Screen play of the movie is written by Karthik Gowda, the movie will be the first attempt at non-linear story narration in Tulu. And this movie has mixture of all emotions.
You have a team of inexperienced fresh faces, is that a major challenge for you?
Yes, it was for the first two days of shooting. It is also the first movie for me, hence we struggled a lot. But when everyone started understanding how it has to be done, it became easier. Today we can complete 3- 4 scenes per day.
Tell us more about your lead actors in the movie
You might have seen our hero Anoop dancing in various stage programmes here in Dubai. He is a very good dancer and talented actor too. His screen presence is the most positive point about him. Varuna is an MBA student in Dubai, and her pretty face has already been accepted by many movie lovers and also there are lot of opportunities coming her way. You can soon see her acting in a Tamil movie too. Dipti Karkera understands the scene and gets into her character very easily. Actually, we selected her after photo shoot, so you won't find her on posters. She is the second lead actress in the movie. People will love her acting for sure.
More about Nirel crew
I feel this is the first movie being made with such less manpower. Everyone does more than what they have to, mostly this passion makes this movie-making experience joyful. Ashwath Samuel, our editor, daily arrives at the set and guides us, so it helps me a lot. Mani Kookal is our power horse. Really amazed at his energy. He is the last person to get tired. We forget our tiredness when we look at the footages. Neha Bangera is assisting me and her observing skills helps us avoids mistakes during the shoot. Being in production team Ramya Rajneesh and Ashwini Santhosh helped me. Luckily we have got all good hearted people around us, like our makeup artist Diana Saldanha and even all our actors who are working on this movie as if it is their own baby.
The team and their support
San Poojary is the backbone of Nirel movie. Actually it is his dream and passion which have transformed into Nirel. He is responsible for making all the arrangements for the shoot. Sachin Padil who is part of the team is a multi-tasking guy, very passionate about movie making. It is fun to watch him prompting the dialogues to actors. Rajneesh Amin, our art director is always busy making frames look beautiful. Being a commercial artist too, he can create his own stuff to get the required look and feel to the set.
So far how was your shooting experience in Dubai?
Really amazed at the response and support from Tulu loving people here. People helped a lot in providing shooting locations, items and transport. It will be a big task to name them all, but we expect more support from all people. Movie making is not an easy task, but your support will make it easier to achieve.
You are working here in Dubai and at the same time you are involved with this project. How do you manage your time?
It's not only me, our entire team is working with dedication on this movie project. All of us work in some or the other company, and we have to reduce our sleeping time and use it for the movie. All have been working for long without a break. It's really a hectic schedule, but we enjoy every bit of it.
What are your upcoming projects?
Talks are on for a Kannada movie project, it is too early to disclose it. My first aim is successful completion of this project and to make it a huge success. Success of this movie is very important for each and every person involved in its making. I am really happy that Nirel has already created a lot of buzz in our Tulu movie industry. People are waiting its release. I am really proud to see the messages on Facebook and the wishes expressed there will surely help us in achieving success.
Perhaps the most heartening part of this project is that the crew is made of artistes who belong to different castes and religious sects of Tulu Nadu.
Daijiworld being the official website of this prestigious movie hereby wishes the Nirel Team all success and hope this movie will surely be a turning point in the Tulu movie Industry.