BENGALURU : A Bengaluru-based filmmaker has based his next short film on the unfortunate incident that happened in Kammanahalli two years ago, where a woman was molested by two men around 2.40 am. The CCTV footage of the incident had gone viral on social media. It shows two men on a bike stopping a woman walking on the streets and groping her and trying to remove her clothes.
Bharath M C, who has directed a 10-minute Kannada film, Mouna based on this incident, says, “The film refers to the incident but is completely fictionalised. The background of the cast has been changed and we have added a few scenes like the girl trying to stab the man with a knife. The only scene from the actual incident that we recreated is the CCTV capturing the incident.” He adds that the idea of the film is to start a conversation among people about how would they react if the accused was someone from their family.
Rahil Mehdi, founder of Tessarakt Productions that produced the film, says the film talks about the responsibility of families in such situations. The narrative explores the crumbling relationship between the perpetrator and his mother. “It’s not a call for action. It creates a curiosity among people to know what the mother would do after she learns that her son has been accused of the crime. The film ends there. We showed the film to a couple of people to know their views.
They were curious to know what would happen next,” he says. He adds that they wanted to work on films with social content and that’s how the collaboration for this project happened. The budget of the film was `1.8 lakh, he says.The film was made over two-and-a-half months. Bharath says, “We were working on a couple of scripts for short films. We were discussing what the colour red signifies.
That’s how we came about this idea. My earlier film Fading Red deals with the aftermath of a rape case.” The film was shot in Koramangala, Mathikere and Bannerghatta Road. “We were just skeptical about shooting the CCTV footage scene. We were worried if the residents would call the police assuming that a molestation is taking place,” he says. He adds, however, all permissions were taken. “We had also taken a written consent from the actor who played the victim in the film,” he says.
Rahil says the team wanted to finish the film before the year-end. “We are planning to have a preview of the film in mid-January where we will be inviting social entrepreneurs and lawmakers if possible, so that we can create a platform to have a discussion. We would also be sending the film to different festivals.”
The film stars noted actors Pavitra Lokesh, Veeresh, Roopa Rayappa and Mallikarjun D.
A 10-minute film based on the sexual assault case, that happened in Kammanahalli two years ago, explores how the relationship between a mother and her son gets affected after she learns he is the perpetrator of crime