When you taste success, it compels you to try the ‘main course’. And Hemanth M Rao, the young debutant director of Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu, must be glad of what’s been brought to the table.
The success of his first film has catapulted the debutant into a different league. Now, the one-film-old director’s next project has caught the attention of none other than Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar. The actor, who has been keen on producing good Kannada projects, will be associating with Karthik Gowda to produce Hemanth’s second film.
This will be the first venture made under Karthik Films, a sister concern of Hombale Films, which has produced films such as Ninindale, Masterpiece and now Raajakumara and KGF.
Karthik confirms the news about the trio associating and says that the movie will be a thriller. “We have known each other for some time now,” he says. “Moreover, whenever Puneeth and I meet, we speak about new scripts. When he heard about the script written by Hemanth, we decided to produce the film.
Puneeth will play a major role in its making, not just by co-producing, he will be involved right from the pre-production stage. The project has stepped up into a different level with the Power Star on board.”
Karthik says that this is the first time in Sandalwood that a star is part of a project without acting in it and is contributing to its content. “Who knows better than Puneeth who started his career as a child artiste,” says Karthik.
“Puneeth’s inclusion is like plugging a project into a power grid... it is a big boost for Hemanth’s project”.
According to Karthik, the project was decided on just after the release of Godhi Banna…. “I liked the way he had handled his first venture, with sincerity,” says Karthik.
“Hemanth is not inclined towards what we call non-commercial films but he creates commercial value in art. Another good thing about him is that he sticks to the local flavour and stays true to the theme.”
Hemanth had approached Karthik after watching the teaser of Puneeth’s upcoming film, Raajakumaara.
“He talked of his new script to me then,” says Karthik. “I liked the way he has put together his script, which has very local anecdotes. Though it is a thriller, he has made sure that each character connects with the audience.”
Music director Charan Raj and editor Deepu S Kumarwill be part of the project, the rest of the cast and technicians will be finalised soon.