Filmmaking is the best job in the world: Hemanth Hedge

Two years in the making, and many controversies later, Nimbe Hulli is finally ready for a release. Incidentally, waiting for a film to get made and released is hardly new to the film’s director and actor Hemanth Hegde. However, his experiences seem to have only made him more positive of his craft. Hemanth tells us about the challenges he has faced in his journey so far...
Why has Nimbe Hulli been in the making for such a long time?
It’s been two years since we began work on this film.First, there was an issue with one of the heroines, Komal Jha, messing up the schedule by not sticking to the dates that she had committed to. Then we had Anupam Kher, whose dates we missed, thanks to Komal. But after that, he kept us hanging for eight months about his next set of dates, before he finally decided not to be a part of the film at all.
With just that, a year had already passed. Then, one day, out of the blue, we received an order from the Chennai High Court against the film. It was sent on behalf of Karunanidhi, who apparently heard we had portrayed him in bad light in the film –— which was not true. This is just a fun film, with zero intentions of hurting anyone.
You also have a Bollywood producer. How did Subhash Ghai happen to produce this film?
My association with Mr Ghai goes way back. After a successful six-year stint on television as an actor, I was keen to get into films. I was part of TN Seetharam’s films, after which I could not attract any commercial offers. I also wanted more.
I wanted to direct films. I got my first break with Usha Kiran Films. I had gone to Hyderabad to narrate my script and, even though I had no background in direction, they trusted me with the project. I got myself a hit with Oh La La. It seemed to have come so easily to me at that time that I took things too lightly. I made two more films with super-confidence.
However, when my next film flopped, I found it hard to imagine how something that I had made could fail. I was out of work here. I decided to shift base and moved to Mumbai to work with KC Bogadia, who was interested in remaking Oh La La in Hindi. When I met him for a project for the first time, I was in for a shock. He said he had changed his mind about remaking the film, but instead gave me a copy of Murder and asked me to work on a film along the same lines.
I had decided to head back to Bangalore when he got my tickets cancelled and offered me another project — Teri Meherbaniya. I took up the offer, but our collaboration did not even last till we were done filming. We fought over what the climax scene should be and I left the project right there.
I was probably quite immature in the way I reacted back then, and I found myself out of work again. It was around this time that I met Mr Ghai. Nimbe Hulli was initially supposed to be made in Hindi, but we decided to make it in Kannada first, and Mr Ghai will debut as a producer for a Kannada film with this one.
Has all this waiting demotivated you in any way?
I am a happy-go-lucky person by nature. Though I am sensitive, I don’t show it.
I believe that everybody should aim at living their dream, because that is the most beautiful life one can lead. There are ups and downs, but one should never lose focus. I believe in the saying ‘Live and let live’. Filmmaking is an art, but it also comes with a whole lot of other aspects that can get an individual frustrated. But it is still is the best job in the world. I can’t imagine doing anything else.
With your film being a slapstick comedy, do you think you will be restricting your audience to a limited section?
Nimbe Hulli does seem like it is made for a niche audience, but it is a film that is just all about fun. It is one that people can watch with the entire family without getting embarrassed about the content. There are a lot of jibes that people will relate to. Even though the story was written two years ago, the content is relevant even today, and will be relevant for a long time to come. However, the audience has also noticed the change that the Kannada film industry is going through. Creatively, it is a good time for people to be part of films here. We still have a long way to go, but it is a time when scripts are slowly gaining prominence here and that is the only way it should be.