Exclusive! Ee Seethege is a celebratory song at a crucial point in Garuda: Siddharth Mahesh

Siddharth Mahesh, who made his Kannada debut with Sipaayi earlier, is currently giving finishing touches to his next, Garuda, in the hope of getting the film out in theatres at the earliest. The film, which marks the directorial debut of choreographer-turned-filmmaker Dhanakumar, is ready, but for the final DTS mix, which the team is trying to get done on a war footing.

In the meantime, they are now ready to give audiences yet another peak into the world of Garuda with the first lyrical video dropping on the auspicious occasion of Vijayadashami on October 15 at 9.30 am. “Garuda is a Raghu Dixit musical and Ee Seethege is the first song that we are releasing from the film,” says lead actor Siddarth, adding, “ Sung by Raghu and Shruthi VS, with lyrics by newcomer Bharath, this is a sweet celebratory song, featuring most of the primary cast, including Ashika, Srinagara Kitty, Kamna Jethmalani, Rangayana Raghu. The song, which captures the engagement of my character with Ashika, comes at a crucial point in the narrative and has been shot as a nice family get-together moment. Dhanakumar choreographed the song, which we shot for at a resort in Mysuru over three days,” explains Siddharth.

As the next step, the actor is trying to figure out a release date for the film. “After Bhajarangi 2 on October 29, there are Kannada films confirmed for almost every Friday thereafter, some of which are big-ticket releases. Then, in January, there will be an onslaught of Tamil and Telugu films for Sankranti, so, it is going to be difficult to get a clear window for any movie releasing in the days ahead. As a team, we are hopeful of bringing the film to theatres in November, though,” he says.

Why not opt for an OTT release instead, then? “Major OTT platforms are not very keen on picking up Kannada films for direct release. They tend to choose movies based on the theatrical performance, which is why most Kannada filmmakers are left with no other choice but to wait for a chance for a theatrical release. Also, a lot of the films that are currently ready were made for a big-screen viewing and are best watched in a theatre. Garuda is also one of those,” Siddharth signs off.