Movie inspired by Lance Naik Koppad in the making

HUBBALLI: A team of young artistes and a director are now making a movie on soldiers’ lives and their vision to bring in changes in society, drawing inspiration from the life story of Lance Naik Hanumantappa Koppad. The film crew was inspired by the bravery of Koppad, who was trapped in an avalanche and later died in hospital. Director Shankar decided to make a movie about soldiers and the dangers they brave, titled Mukti.The climax was shot at Betadur, the native village of Lance Naik Koppad, to whom the film is dedicated.
Movie director K Shankarmurthy said the nation had praised the courageous act of the Lance Naik who had survived for a few days stuck under an avalanche in the Siachen glacier. The nation had mourned the death of this brave soldier and lakhs of people had turned at his native village to pay their last respects to the hero. “The movie will be about the achievements and sacrifice of Lance Naik Koppad. I have finally scripted the story and also found some producers, who will produce the movie at a cost of Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1 crore. My story also deals with issues like corruption in society, illiteracy, atrocities on women, child marriage, water scarcity in villages and other problems that plagued rural India,” said Shankarmurthy.
A soldier, the lead character, tries to find a solution to these problems and his vision is to bring changes in society. We also sought permission from his family members to shoot parts of his life in the village, and use some of his pictures in our movies, he added.
“We shot a major portion of the movie in Magadi near Bengaluru over the past 40 days. The major and important climax scene was also shot in Betadur, at Lance Naik Koppad’s memorial,” he said.
This film will be released in the next couple of months. Many new and old artistes are acting in this movie, which aims to inspire the younger generations to join the Army, Shankarmurthy added.