Dhananjaya – Kotee represents every common man and that’s what fascinated me

Parameshwar Gundkal maybe a debutant filmmaker now, but he’s had a long-standing career in media and television, especially as the business head of Colors Kannada for a decade. It is where Dhananjaya had his first major interaction with Param, as the filmmaker is popularly known. Param had been a major pillar of support for Dhananjaya when he struggled to sell the post-theatrical rights of his debut home production Badava Rascal. Even then, when Param then wanted to give the actor a narration for his debut directorial, Dhananjaya tried to avoid that and asked for the script instead.

Speaking at the teaser launch of their maiden collaboration Kotee, the actor said that the problem with narrations is that it puts him in an awkward position if it doesn’t go well, forcing him to sit through the entire duration. It’s also not easy saying no at the end of it. Instead, he prefers this phase without a face-to-face meeting and reads the script. When Param insisted that he sit for a narration, Dhananjaya was worried about how to let him down if he doesn’t like it.

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Turns out, Dhananjaya did not have to have any such worry. Param gave him a start-to-finish engrossing narration for about two hours, during which the actor was not only amazed at his amazing storytelling, but his writing as well. In fact, Dhananjaya was so taken in by the story that he was on board immediately. “The character Kotee represents pretty much every common man and most of the situations in the film are instances that would have happened in our lives at some point; it so relatable,” said the actor.

Kotee, which was majorly shot in Mysuru, will release in theatres on June 14. It is the first Kannada venture of Jio Studios and has actors like Rangayana Raghu, Ramesh Indira, Tara, Moksha Kushal, among others on the cast. The responsibility of music has been split between Vasuki Vaibhav for songs and Nobin Paul for background score.