For a group of youngsters, Evil Dead, a Kannada horror film in 3D, is its entry ticket into Sandalwood. Director Hari Krishna, along with a team whose 25 members are aged between 19 to 28 years, is releasing a trailer of the film on New Year’s Eve. “When we picked the subject, it was all about the challenge of bringing high quality, Hollywood-inspired cinema to Kannada. We began work on the film seven months ago. So far we have only shot the trailer, which took three months and we completed it by the first week of December,” says Krishna.
CHILDHOOD DREAM
“Since childhood, it was my dream to become a filmmaker. Initially, I started with doing short films and being part of Kannada and Tamil movies, which strengthened my concepts and gave me the confidence to continue in this field. When we came up with the idea of Evil Dead in Kannada it was just about trying it out as an experiment. But as the process caught on, it inspired us further and we wanted to make it a full-length feature,” Krishna says of the attempt to make a 3D film.
TRIBUTE TO ORIGINAL
The Evil Dead franchise is a Hollywood cult classic. Hari and his crew are aware of the brand and its popularity. “The technicality and the perfection of the genre inspired us. We wanted to create another one in Kannada. We have not taken any permission, but we hope our respect towards the creators of the original will be considered,” he explains.
The trailer cost Rs 1.5 lakh to make and now the team is on the look out for a producer for the full film. “We have anticipated that the movie will need Rs 1.5 crore. So far, we have worked with contributions made by the team. Ours will be a 30-day schedule and, if everything goes well, we hope to release in April,” say Krishna
The team used double 5D mark III cameras and a Mirror rig to shoot the trailer. “This is the same technology used to shoot the English film Avatar,” smiles Krishna.
Who is in it
Evil Dead has Poornima in the lead role who will be seen in the forthcoming Agraja, Nagarjun B Rajashekar, a TV actor, Nikhil Jayashobha from Adarsha Film Institution, Jagadish HM who has acted in the to-be-released Mythri, Shivani MS, a student of Usha Bhandari from AAP Institute, and Chaitra, a fresh face.