When Preetham Gubbi had a casual conversation about Tamil film 96, little did he know that he would end up helming the Kannada version of the blockbuster hit, which he would name 99. And the film with emotions, love and prominent actors, has caught the attention of both the film fraternity and audience. Ahead of the release in Kannada on May 1, the director tells us that he’s given his best for the film.
Preetham says that the first person whom he connected with after watching the film was Ganesh. “He was out of the country when I told him about 96. When I mentioned that somebody would do the remake of the film, and he would be one of the choices, he said he would accept it readily. Around the same time, I met producer Ramu, who said he had the film’s rights and suggested that if Ganesh was interested, I could go ahead with the project. Probably, taking up the film was a destiny,” says Preetham.
While he was inspired by the original, Preetham wanted to present his own take on the film. “Shooting 99 was like shooting a new film. We took the soul of the plot and created our own music, ambiance, and worked on it to suit our native sensibilities,” says the director. 99 wouldn’t have been possible without a perfect cast, and Preetham feels blessed to have roped in fine actors. “I was clear about one thing—that the film would always be compared to the original which had won hearts. Bringing in a sense of freshness in terms of presentation was our challenge,” he says.
He goes on to add that Ganesh has his fan base, who have been missing his subtle roles. “Since it had been a while that Ganesh was seen in such a role, I tweaked his character suit the requirements,” he says. A talented heroine, Bhavana, Preetham says brought grace and dignity to the film. “99 only has about five artistes who have to entertain the audience for nearly two and a half hours. “It was an interesting task. Both of them, along with the rest of actors, Hemanth and Shamikshaa, only raised the bar. That has boosted my confidence about 99,” he explains.
“Arjun Janya has done a fabulous job for his 100th film. In fact, one of the tracks has been created using a symphony orchestra from Budapest. Likewise, we had Santhosh Rai Pathaje, who has brought in the best picturisation,” he says.
Will this film take his career up a notch? “Every aspect of filmmaking counts. Even though you put in the same effort for every movie, some films do well, others don’t. Here, we can’t blame the audience. You should think that something is missing from our end. Through 99, we have tried to make a good package to ensure nothing is missing,” he says.
A universal subject, 99, the director believes, is not a film, but a glimpse of life. “It’s about school days and first love, which everyone can connect with,” says Preetham, who has only one last remark, “I’m hoping the audience give me 100 on 100 in this exam.”