Head Bush gets ‘A’ certificate: Mutes and cuts would have killed the spirit of the film, says Dhananjaya

This Friday, Kannada cinema’s Natarakshasa Dhananjaya’s second production venture, his ambitious retelling of the underworld of 70s Bengaluru with the biopic of MP Jayaraj, Head Bush, will be in theatres. The film, which has Dhananjaya playing the slain gangster, was censored earlier this week and the team settled for an ‘A’ rating, although a few cuts and mutes could have got it a more family audience-friendly U/A rating.

We asked Dhananjaya why he chose to go with the ‘A’ rating, which, in effect could keep family audiences away from theatres and this is what he had to say. “There were a few recommendations, which were not only about the violence, but more with the dialogues. The committee wanted us to mute some words in a very crucial scene and if we had conceded, it would have ruined not only the sequence, but the spirit of the film. So, we decided to retain it in the final version. It’s a call we had to take,” he says, adding with a smile, “As for family audiences, they will still come to see the film, but without the kids.”

Head Bush Part 1, which has the tagline, The Rise and Rise of Bengaluru follows the rise of MP Jayaraj in the city’s underworld scene. The film, directed by Shoonya, is based on a book by reformed gangster Agni Sridhar, My Days In The Underworld. Head Bush has a massive ensemble cast, including Payal Rajput, Vasishta N Simha, Loose Mada Yogi, Raghu Mukherjee, Balu Nagendra, Devaraj, Sruthi Hariharan, V Ravichandran, among others. The film has music by Charan Raj. Head Bush will be in theatres in Kannada only. The digital and satellite rights of the film have been picked up by Zee Network for a reported Rs 12 crore, apparently.

Meanwhile, Dhananjaya, who is currently shooting for his milestone 25th film Hoysala, will complete that and then begin work on his Telugu film with Satyadev. He’s also got another film with Rathnan Prapancha maker Rohit Padaki, which should also take off soon.