PremiumTatsama Tadbhava: Pannaga Bharana turned producer for Meghana and Chiranjeevi Sarja
Pannaga and the late Chiranjeevi Sarja were childhood friends and were toying with the idea of launching a production house to make films with each other when the latter passed away
Last Updated: 06.49 PM, Sep 09, 2023
Pannaga Bharana has a background in films – his father is renowned filmmaker TS Nagabharana. And while Pannaga followed in his illustrious father’s footsteps and took to direction, production was something that happened by chance. His debut venture as producer, Tatsama Tadbhava, will be in theatres on September 15 and has two of his very close pals, Prajwal Devaraj and Meghana Raj Sarja on the cast. But this film becoming his first production happened purely by chance, he explains, speaking to the media ahead of the release.
Pannaga, Prajwal and the late Chiranjeevi Sarja were childhood buddies and had discussed the possibility of launching a production house and make films with each other. It was a thought – to tell stories that they like and reach them to audiences - and nothing had fallen in place to make it happen and then, out of the blue, Chiranjeevi left them all, when he succumbed to a massive heart attack in June 2020, at the height of the pandemic. Pannaga was distraught and dedicated an area in his home as a shrine to his dearly departed friend. But doing just that was not enough for him. He needed to live up to the promise he’d made to his friend.
When Pannaga then came across the script of Tatsama Tadbhava, his first thought was that Meghana should do it. At the time, though, she was not in the frame of mind to consider a return to films. She had, after all, lost the love of her life when they were still expecting their firstborn and she had, since then, dedicated her life to being the primary caretaker of her son, Raayan. So, Pannaga sent the script to her for her opinion on it, without suggesting she also act in it. After reading it, Meghana felt an instant connection to the lead character Arika and when Pannaga then asked her to be in the film, she was up for it. It took a little more convincing, he says, as Meghana needed to be entirely sure that her absence from home for the duration of the shoot would not upset Raayan’s routines. Eventually, everything worked out just right and that’s how Pannaga turned to production.