Many directors have made films based on real life incidents. Now, it is the turn of Santosh Kumar to direct a film based on a real life incident that took place at Kamakshipalya in Bangalore. It was a murder committed by a few PUC students for money.
This film’s title has been decided as Alemari. Santosh Kumar, who has been working as the associate director for over five years for films like Jogi, Preethi Eke Bhoomi Melidhe and Sanju Weds Geetha, debuted as a director with this film. “I had written the script of Alemari five years ago. Many real life incidents, especially the murder at Kamakshipalya, had inspired me to prepare the script,” says Santosh Kumar.
Yogesh and Radhika Pandit are the lead pair while Josh fame Rakesh has played the role of a villain. Ramesh Bhat, Umasree, Adi Lokesh, Raju Talikote, Raghu and Ramesh Pandit are the other artistes in the film. Its shooting was held in various slums in Bangalore for 65 days. “In this film, Radhika Pandit plays the role of a Brahmin girl while Yogesh belongs to a middle-class family. Rakesh’s plays the role of a slum-dweller,” narrates Kumar.
The USP of Alemari is the director had opted for latest camera — Arri Alexa. “Alemari is the first film in Sandalwood to have this luxury. Four more directors are waiting for the feedback from us to use Arri Alexa for their films,” says Kumar. Manjunath Nayak, who had handled the megaphone for a few advertisement films in Mumbai, made his debut as a cinematographer with this film. “Nayak has done a good job behind the camera,” says the director.
Arjun Janya has scored the music for this action, romance and sentiment-oriented film. As of now, the dubbing is under progress and re-recording is yet to commence. If everything goes as per plan, Alemari is expected to hit the silver screen in February. “I am very grateful to producers, Krishna Prasad and B K Srinivas, who did not compromise on the quality. They spent lot of money and provided all the amenities during the shooting,” adds the director.