BENGALURU: It was long overdue and it’s finally happening. Kidigalu, the first movie of KS Ramesh, celebrity illusionist, is going to be showcased at Suchitra Film Society on December 21. Kidigalu, which means sparks, is about children coming across magic for the first time from a travelling magician. The movie captures the old-world charm.
It was always Ramesh’s dream to make a movie for children, so his first film had to be on two of his favourite things- children and magic. “I made one in 2019. But due to the lockdown, it didn’t get a theatre release,” says Ramesh, who has been part of movies like Pushpak and Amitabh Bachchan’s Jadugaar.
Ramesh feels children’s films are losing their feel and charm. “Today, the clarity of a children’s film is a grey area. So I made this movie. I have written the screenplay, dialogues and directed it as well. This is my first film and I wanted to handpick the experience. I have tried to use magic to tell a story. Stories that have good moral values for children and told in an entertaining way,” he says.
According to Ramesh, dynamics between films and the audience have changed post Covid. “Post corona, things have changed and even audiences have also changed and it is only a few of these mega productions that make it to the theatre. So I thought why not make it in a different way since a lot of money is involved. We have also shown it in different schools and we have charged a nominal fee. I was hoping children would love it a lot but I was glad that even teachers loved it too,” says Ramesh, as he takes a break from inviting friends for the screening.
This film is shot in the picturesque location of Kalasa, in the Western Ghats in Karnataka. “When I was casting for the film, which is set in a semi-rural background, I chose children from there. Because city children, including mine, are very different. I wanted to capture the innocence and curiosity of children. So I auditioned over 500 children and only a bunch of them made it to the film. A majority of the children in the movie have not faced the camera. So I did a quick workshop for them and they picked it up immediately,” he says.