The film Ring Road Shubha made by an all-women crew has been in the news for a long time, but it was on Monday that the team came out to talk about their efforts in making the film. The captain of the ship, director Priya Belliappa waited to have the final product in hand before talking about the journey.
She says, “We were apprehensive and we held back and stood in the shadows until we had the conviction to say that what we dreamed of, we have now,” says Priya, who along with the team of around 18 people was present to talk about Ring Road...as they released the trailer and the little aspects of the film. “It has been an inexplicable experience for all of us. I am finally happy with the project and we are now at the DTS stage,” she adds.
According to Priya, Ring Road Shubha is not the story of Shubha Shankaranarayan (the prime accused who allegedly hatched a conspiracy to kill her fiance B V Girish, a software engineer). “The incident only inspired our story. The film talks about something that could happen to any of us. It is about a single event that affects more lives than one,” says Priya and further adds, “However, we did have to meet Shubha and a few police officers to learn about the investigation of the crime.”
Priya also clarified that just because the film is made by an all-women crew, Ring Road... it doesn’t show men in a bad light. “We are all human beings. Crime cannot be distinguished based on the gender of the perpetrator and we are not taking any sides. The film is for entertainment purpose only,” she says.
The team is now waiting for the DTS to be completed, after which they plan to go to the censor board. Priya and team hope that the movie is given a good rating. “I don’t think we will have a problem with the censor board as we are not showing any murder in our film. Let’s see how the board sees Ring Road...,” says Priya, adding, “This movie doesn’t give any fresh ideas for crime, but there is definitely a positive message in the end.”
Rumour has it that a little of actor Duniya Vijay’s personal life has been captured in the film. Priya neither denies nor admits it, but says, “He has played an important role in our film and there is an interesting connection, which cannot be revealed now. All I can tell you is that he plays an investigative officer and Nikita Thukral is his on-screen wife. I am thankful to all of those who whole-heartedly came forward to be part of our film,” she says.
Priya also plans to go on record with Ring Road Shubha for involving girls at every helm of the movie. “We will apply for a record now that we have women technicians working on a movie in Karnataka for the first time. They say, in a male-dominated society, it is always difficult for a woman to make a movie. Thankfully, we have achieved it and we want to tell the nation about it,” she says.
Producer Ranjini Ravindra Das of Ring Road... is an advocate and cinema is very new to her. “Though my husband Ravindra Das is a director and is connected to Kannada cinema, I showed less interest in entering the field. I got involved when I met Priya during the making of Sorry Mathe Banni Preethsona directed by Ravindra,” says Ranjini, who is prepared to face the law in case Shubha’s family has some objections with the film.
“I don’t think it is a problem because the story is not a biopic of Shubha. Even if an objection is raised by them, we are ready to fight it out, as we are confident that it is not a direct spin on her life. We are aware that Shubha is in jail, but we can’t have any legal hurdles,” says Ranjini, who is supposed to have spent double the budget in making Ring Road... “The final outcome is worth it,” she adds.
Rekha Rani, the lyricist and dialogue writer, thanks the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce and Karnataka Film Workers Union for their support.“The road was a little bumpy as there were some issues in making this film. It was the members of KFCC and the union who helped our cause,” says Rekha. Music director Vani Harikrishna has only roped in Bangalore singers for the film. “We have five songs in the film and we were happy to have singer Sangeetha Katti on board for a folk number and another duet sung by my husband and me. I want to thank the director who encouraged me to take only Bangalore singers. Secondly, Priya gave me a one-liner and also took me to the locations, which helped me score music to match the mood,” she says.
Cinematographer Reshmi Sarkar, who came all the way from Mumbai, says, “This is my first independent film as an cinematographer. I am glad that we all came together from different states to work on Ring Road Shubha,” says Reshmi.