Kannada filmmakers take a leaf from Baahubali

Even as Baahubali, written and directed by the father-son duo KV Vijayendra Prasad and SS Rajamouli, was a huge hit, yet another father-son duo hopes to make its presence felt with Matari, a film that revolves around schoolchildren of the Siddi tribe, said to be from Southeast Africa, in Western Ghats.
An assistant professor of New Horizon College of Education will direct the movie based on his father's recently-released novel of the same name.Having tasted tremendous success with Upendra's 2012 movie Godfather, songs of which Devappa Hassan penned and AR Rahman composed, the 65-year-old believes that he could match stalwart Vijayendra Prasad in scriptwriting. Devappa also scripted the songs of the musical hit Kavya, starring Ramkumar and Sudha Rani.
A doctorate in education, 41-year-old Jayadev MD, learnt the basics of filmmaking from his fat her's friend, also a writer, VR Bhaskar (who scripted dialogues for Aptha Mitra and Aptha Rakshaka with thespian late Vishnuvardhan in the lead role). Jayadev will direct Matari, which is based on the 140-page novel released on Sunday by litterateurs Nallur Prasad and others. The novel, which focuses on Koolimata, a traditional education system among tribes, revolves around two children and their struggle in society.
"Matari touches upon several aspects, starting from the education system to culture of the Siddi community in Western Ghats. It also depicts the plight of a boy, Matari, a class III student, who runs away from his community to Bengaluru only to land in more trouble. The movie is about two children, Matari and a girl Chaithra, who sets off in search of Matari and also lands in trouble," Jayadev told Bangalore Mirror.
While Devappa Hassan, who is not new to filmmaking has scripted the novel, it will be a debut movie for his son. A father-son combination resulting in a movie is a rarity in Sandalwood. Jayadev will shoot the movie in Yellapura in Uttara Kannada district while wearing the director's hat as a first-timer. The process has already begun and the cast including the ones to play the lead characters, in what Jayadev states would be a children movie, finalised.
"My father has scripted the novel and will handle the dialogues and screenplay of the movie. He has scripted three songs for the movie. I'm proud to be directing my father's novel, which is not very common. The movie has a strong message on empowering children and the education system," Jayadev added.