Exclusive!"Kannada audiences have embraced content from all over, it's time to give a fair chance to our own cinema": Dollu filmmaker Sagar Puranik

Sagar Puranik’s filmmaking journey is off to a vibrant start. His debut feature Dollu has transcended cultural and linguistic boundaries to reach many far corners of the world through film festivals, only to eventually return home for a much-deserved theatrical release.

The film hits the big screens on August 26 on the back of a grand National Award win (Best Kannada Feature category) but for Sagar, this journey is far from over. As someone who has striven hard for many months to bring this passion story to life, the young filmmaker reckons that while the international accolades come as a sense of validation for him and his team, the real test starts on the 26th of this month.

“I couldn’t be happier with the response that Dollu has received in the festival circuit: from premiering in Boston to reaching film festivals in Nepal, Dhaka, Ottawa (Canada), our own IFFI, GOA (which I was personally looking forward to and have been a fan of), and, of course, the National Award, the film has only received love everywhere. And yet, I feel that the true sense of success will be earned when our own people of Karnataka appreciate the film by watching it in theatres,” says Sagar Puranik in an exclusive chat.

And in the post-pandemic environment, wherein most films of the “festival” kind settle for an OTT release, Sagar Puranik and his team were always sure that Dollu would release in cinema halls. While Sagar himself refrains from categorizing the film as a specific kind (mainstream or arthouse), he is very much aware of the fact that cinema of different artistic kinds demand their own respective approaches. And Dollu, by his own admission, falls right in the middle of these two broad divisions and hence, the theatrical release marks the beginning of the film's new chapter.

"I had never intended to make the film specifically for the festival circuit but one is aware of their target audience while conceiving the story. But things in the case of Dollu changed when someone like Pavan Wadeyar sir came on board as the producer because of his own reputation as a bona fide mainstream filmmaker. So, I knew that our collaboration would certainly interest both the media and the public but the task then became to place the film in a neutral zone, so to speak. As a filmmaker, my sensibilities are to keep things realistic, make sure the acting performances feel natural and real, and so on, and with the confidence that the film will release in theatres, my team and I made sure that it remains in a safe spot where it does well not just in film festivals but also in cinema halls,” he adds.

“I am glad that I found producers in Pavan Wadeyar and Apeksha Purohit who gave me all the freedom in the world to make my film. I suppose Pawan sir, being a filmmaker himself, understands the liberty a director needs and I got just that. I had no questions asked and I was able to make the film that I always wanted to make”

And what does Sagar Puranik have to say to his potential audience? Especially in times that are proving to be tricky for a majority of the Kannada theatrical releases...

“In a way, Kannada Cinema patrons have showered love on the content of all kinds and all regions – Malayalam to Spanish or Korean, our people have embraced sensibilities of all kinds. And in the same vein, you have films like K.G.F: Chapter 2, 777 Charlie, and Vikrant Rona that have put Kannada cinema on the map but one forgets that the industry has been offering numerous other films every single week. The disparity between the big releases and the smaller Kannada films releasing week after week is huge at this point and I suppose we are going wrong somewhere. But my perspective is that since our own local talent in producing exciting and worthy content now, one could certainly make a sincere effort to give it a chance. A film like Dollu has been designed for the large-canvas experience: each frame has been composed with care, the sound design is top quality, and every little detail in the film is meant to be experienced on the big screen. So, if I can get one person to watch the film in a theatre and spread the word to 10 others, I would be more than glad,” adds Sagar Puranik.