Nagabhushana and Priyanka’s ‘virtual’ Kannada film Made in China gets a March release

Remember director Mahesh Narayan’s Malayalam film C U Soon, starring Fahadh Faasil, Roshan Mathew and Darshana Rajendran, which was shot as a computer screen film, based on virtual interactions between the protagonists? The film was shot after the first set of lockdowns in 2020, when people in showbiz were still adapting to their new normal and working amid safety protocol.

A year and a half later comes a Kannada film that has followed a similar style of narrative. Called Made in China, this family drama directed by Preetham Thegginamane, is being pegged as Kannada cinema's first-ever virtual film wherein the characters interact each other only through digital means, like mobile phones, laptops, etc. Cinematographer-turned Preetham has been quoted as saying that his initial idea was to make a short film, but later realized that the subject had the potential to warrant a feature-length movie.

The film, which has Nagabhushana and Priyanka Thimmesh in the lead, is slated to release in theatres on March 11. Made in China is about Nagabhushana's character, after he is stranded in China while on a business trip following the first breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, with no means to return home. If the lockdown wasn’t bad enough for him, he is also mentally burdened by the fact that his heavily-pregnant wife, played by Priyanka Thimmesh, is expecting their child any day, without him by her side. How they deal with this situation through their virtual communications forms the crux of the narrative. The filmmaker has been quoted as saying that while Made in China is a ‘virtual film’,a strong family drama unfolds, with Aruna Balraj and Ravi Bhat playing Nagabhushana's character’s parents.

Produced by TR Chandrashekhar and Nanda Kishore for Crystal Paark Cinemas, Made in China was shot entirely in Bengaluru. This is Nagabhushana’s first collaboration with Priyanka Thimmesh.