Ninna Sanihake: All you need to know about Suraj Gowda’s directorial debut film

Ninna Sanihake made news for two reasons when it was launched in 2019. For starters, Kannada actor Suraj Gowda, who rose to fame with Maduveya Mamatheya Kareyole, which was produced by Challenging Star Darshan’s home banner, was turning to direction. And second, he was providing a launchpad for Dhanya Ramkumar, the granddaughter of late Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar and daughter of veteran actor Ramkumar.

The film was ready in early 2020 and Suraj had begun pre-release promotions when the pandemic struck and everything went into shutdown mode. He tried again in April this year, when theatres were briefly operational at full capacity, but the second wave of the pandemic scuttled those plans also. Since then, Suraj has been waiting patiently for 100% occupancy in movie halls and had vowed to bring his film to theatres at the first possible instance. He has now announced October 8 as the official release date for his “labour of love”, given that the Karnataka state government has allowed movie halls to operate at 100% capacity from October 1.

How Ninna Sanihake came about...

Prior to writing, and eventually directing, Ninna Sanihake, Suraj’s career graph was not looking very exciting. The actor has been quoted as saying that he realized back then that he was at a point at which perhaps a couple more unsuccessful films would put his acting career in jeopardy.

When he wrote Ninna Sanihake in the hope that it would be better than the films he’d done in his fledgling career, Suraj did not intend to direct it. He did not even have a producer on board. Impressed with his script, though, two of Suraj’s friends, Akshay Rajshekar and Ranganath Kudi, decided to back the film and when the opportunity to direct presented, the actor did not shy away.

Introducing Dhanya Ramkumar

Around the time that Suraj began looking for a leading lady for his film, Dhanya Ramkumar, the granddaughter of late Kannada matinee idol Dr Rajkumar and daughter of veteran actor Ramkumar, had been talking to the media about her desire to get into acting. This caught Suraj’s attention, and after a common friend introduced the duo, he thought she fit the bill for the lead heroine character in his script. And when Dhanya too loved the narration, everything fell into place.

Dhanya is the first actress and third generation actor from the Rajkumar family and steps into showbiz with the blessings of all the elders in the family, including uncles Shivarajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar.

What is Ninna Sanihake about?

Suraj’s directorial debut is a romantic comedy, which also deals with a live-in relationship, as evidenced in the trailer of the film. According to Suraj, the story is not inspired by his own experiences, but from what he has seen in relationships of people around him. The subject, he says, is very relatable and considering his love for commercial cinema, he has tried to make Ninna Sanihake as a complete package, with elements of romance, comedy, action, emotions, suspense, etc., so that there is something for everyone in it.

Raghu Dixit and Vasuki Vaibhav’s combo for the music

Folk singer and composer Raghu Dixit fills in as music director for Suraj’s directorial debut. Raghu is not known to take up every project that comes his way, so when he does choose to turn composer for a film, there’s always something special up his sleeve. For Ninna Sahike, Raghu has composed eight songs that are amplified by the lyrics of singer-composer-lyricist Vasuki Vaibhav. It is not clear if all eight will make it to the final cut of the film, but they definitely make up an exciting soundtrack album, given that some of the songs that the team has released in the run-up to the film’s release, like the title track, Maley Maley and Nee Parichaya, have been making their presence felt on music charts.

When is Ninna Sanihake releasing?

Ninna Sanihake, starring Suraj Gowda and Dhanya Ramkumar in the lead, will release in theatres across Karnataka on October 8.