Technical Extravaganza in Tarun's Chowka
When debutant director Tarun Sudhir speaks about his film Chowka, one can instinctively perceive that he is not exaggerating. The passion is perceptible and it becomes veracious when he asserts that if you don’t weave your story with ample exclusivity, you become a part of somebody else's story. And the exclusivity in Chowka lies in the technical variety.
The director has roped in 25 technicians for the film, a first in Indian cinema, according to him. “We have used five DOPs, and the same number of dialogue writers, musicians, art directors, apart from other technicians. They are the 'Off Screen Heroes' of the film,” he says.
Tarun, who had assisted his brother Nanda Kishore and others in various films, will be independently directing Chowka, which also happens to be the 50th film made under Dwarakish Chitra. The debutant, who has completed 80 per cent of the shoot, is now going to launch his first promo on Labour Day (May 1).
Without revealing the story, Tarun hints at the need for so many technicians by saying, "Cinema is a collective endeavour and there are 82 departments under the director. Only if all these departments work in tandem can the film do well. My film comes with five shades and although there could have been one cameraman, the script called for more,” he says.
Five Cinematographers
According to the director, Chowka has actors Prajwal Devaraj, Prem, Vijay Raghavendra and Diganth and each has separate portions to shoot at different locations of Karnataka and under different climatic conditions. “I chose Satya Hegde, S Krishna, Shekhar Chandru, Santhosh Rai Pathaje and Sudhakar S Raj who could bring in five different variations. I share a good rapport with all of them and they were more than glad when they heard the script,” he says and adds that technicians are the ones who lend the much required difference to any film. “A good and bad cinema is in the hands of technicians. I have watched the rushes of Chowka, and it is coming out well,” he says.
Each cameraperson had seven to eight days of work and the director says Krishna shot the portions of Prajwal Devaraj in
Vijayapur around the greenery and the monument as backdrop while Satya Hegde shot Prem's portions in Bengaluru which had windy sequences. “Santhosh Rai Pathaje shot Vijay Raghavendra's portions in Mangaluru in misty conditions, and Sudhakar shot Diganth's portions in rain. Shekhar Chandru shot the combination of all the four, which took place in Ballari under the hot sun,” says Tarun.
The Actresses
Heorines in Chowka make a special appearance. Seen in different roles are Malayalam actress Bhavana, Priyamani, Deepa Sanidhi and Aindrita Ray.
Music directors
Tarun has chosen Gurukiran, V Harikrishna, Arjun Janya, Anup
Seelin, and Sambram V Sridhar for the music. "There is no separate song for each of them, but all of them have come together and scored music for Chowka. Arjun Janya will be doing the re-recording,” Tarun says
Dialogue writers
AP Arjun has written the dialogues for Vijay Raghavendra, while Simple Suni has penned them for Diganth. Prajwal Devaraj delivers his dialogues written by Anil Kumar. AV Chintan wrote for Prem and Yoganand has done a combination for all.
Art Directors
Arun Sagar, Mohan B Kere, Ravi Sante Haiklu, Shivakumar and Hosmane Murthy Editor KM Prakash