Nagathihalli Chandrashekar is a thinker and when it comes to films, he captures reality through literary ideas rather than in prejudices. As the much-acclaimed and awarded director’s next Ishtakamya releases next week, one can rest assured, it will have thought provoking ideas and ample literary dimensions.
The director of much-admired films like America America, Hoomale, Amrutha Dhare says with Ishtakamya, he has been true to the original plot while following a trendy cinematic presentation. “I find a lot of happiness in transforming an author based story to screenplay, which in itself is a challenge,” Nagathihalli informs and says that today, directors can be classified into two types.
“There are directors who make efforts to go through every source and perfect their research but then there are directors who try to take the easy route by getting inspired by films of other languages and blending them to the local nativity, which is only for commercial purpose. It is more or less an effortless job,” he says.
Admitting that his films take time to make, the director asserts that it is purely because of his literary works. “Getting out anecdotes, published books, and knowing history needs patience, which is not the route the industry is taking currently. Today everybody expects the story to be ready in three months, Sadly I am not from that genre and that is why I am slow,” he says and adds that Ishtakamya was a book that he had read long ago.
“When I thought of it for big screen, I had to check on the visibilities to consider it for cinema. I also had to update the book to today’s audience as it is difficult to bring out the story exactly like in the book. All that definitely needed time. I enjoy the pressure, tension and anxiety of creating a new film and working on a fresh project. It is from that tension that the best creativity comes out,” he says.
The directors asserts that his respect for the audience pushes him to search for original plots and he enjoys to add grammar to his creativity, which has been more or less the way his films have been accepted.
“Of course I have also failed to deliver at times. But I believe in defeated dignity rather than vulgar victory. As a literature student, I feel that dignity will come through literary works. It is true that I have done films which are not author based like America America, Amrutha Dhare among others, which only proves that I don’t restrict myself to literary content.
Speaking about the title of the film, Nagathihalli believes that he did want to tone down the title’s strength because the audience are intelligent today. “I don’t like to keep simple titles because I enjoy haunting people’s mind. Ishtakaamya Siddirastu is a Sanskrit word, which is about deep desires of individuals and goals. In the film, the three lead characters have their own desires surrounded by an impossible social structure. Whether each individual will be able fulfill their desires is the crux of my film. It is not just a typical love story. It depicts many issues related to the institution of marriage. I’m not here to provide only entertainment, but to provoke and raise many questions,” the director says.
He has roped in Vijay Suriya, Mayuri and Kavya Shetty for the film and according to him, all three have worked really hard and were competing with each to other to give their best. “It is totally done in a commercial package and I have used exotic locations and there are five good songs too. For the first time, I have myself sung one song, which comes in the background,” he reveals.
The film produced by Shankare Gowda from Mysuru also features Rangayana Raghu, Prakash Belawadi, Chikkana, Mandya Ramesh. Ajaneesh B Lokanath has scored the music and Ravi Kumar Sana is the cameraperson. Interestingly, Nagathihalli has used 10 students from his school Tent Cinema, as artistes and technicians.
Metaphorically, in this scorching summer, this film will bring in a cool breeze,” he says.