Even though director Karthik Saragur was ready with his first film Jeerjimbe in 2016, it is only being released this year. The reason being that this children’s film, which won state awards in 2017, was doing rounds at 23 international festivals between 2017-18, and finally, it will have its commercial opening this week. “We had a clause that the film should complete festival circuits before it sees a regular release,” says Karthik, who tells us why he was particular about screening Jeerjimbe at various festivals. “Though the film was made in Kannada, and narrates the story of a rural girl from Karnataka, we wanted to understand just how universal the film is. Since this is a coming-of-age story that can be applied to any girl, we were keen to see how the global audience would accept our film. Thankfully, we got positive feedback at all the international festivals,” Karthik says.
Jeerjimbe narrates the story of an adolescent girl and her attachment to her bicycle, which has been provided to her by the government. “Jeerjimbe can be applied to any girl who dreams, faces challenges and overcomes difficulties. The cycle is the physical manifestation of the lifecycle of a girl, says Karthik.
Talking about his inspiration for the film, he says, “There is a beautiful saying by Henry David Thoreau - “It is only nature and women, who can survive at any situation because both of them have the will.” Those words inspired me to make this film,” explains the director.
Jeerjimbe, which means jewel beetle, also has significance, he says. “As kids, we loved keeping these jewel beetles in our pencil boxes, and would tie a thread to its wings to make it fly. It is called jewel beetle because it has attractive wings. Just when it uncurls its wings to fly, their lives are cut short, and people then use these beetles as ornaments. My story goes along with this concept,” says the director, adding, “Wings are meant for flying. Similarly, children have the right to be free and right to dream and choose their destiny. But they face extreme situations and circumstances, which curtail them from achieving what they can.
Except for Suman Nagarkar and a few more actors, this film mostly have children, who are all first-timers, Karthik tells us. These kids have a theatre background, and we chose them from rural areas. My challenge was to capture their spontaneity while performing. Every scene was made to look authentic. This film was a great learning experience for me,” he says.
Jeerjimbe is presented by Pushkar Mallikarjunaiah in association with Beehive Productions. It is a crowdfunded film, which had 34 people investing in it. When we ran out of funds, it was Pushkar who came forward to complete and release it,” Karthik reveals.Jeerjimbe will be releasing pan-India, and will hit 50 theatres in Karnataka.