Prithvi Konanur’s child trafficking and begging mafia film Pinki Elli in theatres on June 2

A few years ago, Kannada filmmaker Prithvi Konanur came across news of a baby from an affluent family going missing after being ‘hired’ by the begging mafia in the city. Intrigued by the what, where, why and how of the incident, Prithvi set out to research the subject, more so from the perspective of the people around the child, than the missing toddler. “It took me two years to research and write the full script of Pinki Elli, with much of the time devoted to the idea I have explored in the last 20 minutes of the film. I needed complete clarity about the legal aspects of what I was trying to portray,” says the filmmaker, who is finally bringing his film festival darling movie to theatres on June 2.

The Kannada film revolves around Bindhushree (Akshatha Pandavapura), a working single mother, who leaves her daughter Pinki in the care of a nanny, Sanamma. Unknown to Bindushree, though, Sanamma makes a few extra bucks on the side by loaning Pinki to a relative, Anasuya, who uses the infant to beg at traffic signals. All is well for Sanamma and Anasuya, until one day, the latter loses track of Pinki. What happens thereafter in the police investigation into the child’s disappearance forms the core of the movie. Prithvi’s movie, though, focuses on illegal adoption than trafficking.

For the filmmaker, the biggest challenge in the film was casting for certain roles, like, for instance, that of Sanamma. Prithvi says that he and his directorial team headed to a few slums in North Bengaluru to find the right ‘talent’ for the role. Eventually, when the film was ready and set to be sent to film festivals across the world, the pandemic struck and Prithvi’s plans were massively curtailed.

Pinki Elli is the filmmaker’s third movie. He had earlier made Railway Children about young ones being vulnerable to drug abuse, sexual harassment and other crimes. The 2016 film, based on a true story, inspired from Lalitha Iyer and Malcolm Harper’s book of case studies, Rescuing Railway Children won the National Film Award for Best Child Artist in 2016.