Film release: Overseas first, city next

The dual National Award winning film Naanu Avanalla Avalu has become the first Kannada film to release abroad before its release in Karnataka. The unusual honour went almost unnoticed and unlike his commercial film-maker counterparts BS Lingadevaru did not even bother to make a noise about it. After its premiere in the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), the first public screening of the film was held in Sydney, Australia on August 28.The film is releasing in Bengaluru and the rest of Karnataka this week. Lingadevaru says it was a lucky co incidence. “After the f i l m screened in MIFF, friends in Australia demanded a public screening. There are many Kannadigas in Sydney. I went to the festival along with my family members and there are about 10 families of my relatives in Sydney. The city has become just like Bengaluru. So we had the first public screening of the film in Sydney. It was just like a premiere we would have back home. It is only now that I have begun to realise that this may be the first time that a Kannada film had a public screening abroad rather than in Bengaluru,“ he said.
Naanu Avanalla Avalu won two National Film Awards; the Best Actor award for Sanchari Vijay and the Best Make-Up Artist award for Raju and Nagaraj. It is one of the first mainstream films in Kannada in which the protagonist plays a transgender. It is based on the book I Am Vidya by Living Smile Vidya. Sanchari Vijay became the first actor since Charuhasan in 1987 to win the Best Actor award for Kannada. Vijay had tough competition from Aamir Khan (PK) and Shahid Kapoor (Haider) for the award.
Lingadevaru says NAA was his toughest film till date. “It is not easy to make a film about something you do not know. I t something you do not know. I spent six years since 2009 on this film. Transgenders have their own customs, rules and laws. I had to learn them first. If I did not have the minute details and understanding of their customs and laws, this film would not have been possible. Moreover, the subject has the potential to become a documentary easily. There is a thin line separat ing a documentary and a feature film. I had to make sure it was interesting as a film as well. It is a very musical film,“ he said.