A Kannada film, Billion Dollar Baby , directed by and starring 19-year-old Shriya Dinakar, is set to hit the screens today.
Shriya, who is among the youngest women directors in the country, took a crash course at the Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India.
She started shooting for the film when she was in Class X. The three-hour long film, which explores themes of parenting and growing up, has been produced by her father, Mr. Dinakar. Shriya plays the lead role in the film.
While 70 per cent of the movie was shot in Bangalore and Mysore, the rest has been shot across the globe in parts of the United States of America, Russia, France, Spain and Mauritius. According to Mr. Dinakar, Shriya has always been an achiever from a tender age.“ She has won 19 gold medals, over 450 prizes and 145 regional, national and international awards. She also received the prestigious international Queen Elizabeth Exceptional Achievement Award in 2008,” said her father.
Her achievements don’t stop there: In 2007, Shriya, then aged 13, sold her art work for a whopping 1,37, 500 euros (Rs. 77 lakh) at the 12th International competition of the World of Arts magazine at the Gallery of Young People’s Art Works in Slovenia.
Shriya, a medical student, is also a pilot and a trainee astronaut. She has flown a microlite and Cessna aircraft. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will inaugurate the film at a multiplex today.
