Pradeep Verma’s Urvi trailer is a topic of conversation among cinegoers, and film Shuddhi too has brought out a teaser that has generated a similar buzz. It has got more than 2.5 lakh views within two days of its release.
The debutant director, Adarsh H Eshwarappa, who his overwhelmed with the response says that his first film is women-centric and that has played a big role. “Probably, the characters’ portrayal, in the trailer, is realistic and, of course, there is the music, the camerawork and sound design. Overall, the teaser has connected with the viewers,” he tells City Express.
Adarsh, who has made short films, is on his first full-length feature with Shuddhi. This mechanical engineer-turned-filmmaker withdrew his Provident Fund he earned to fund a course at New York Film Academy. “I rejoined work when I had to meet my expenses. I quit my last job three weeks ago, when I thought I need to concentrate on the release,” he says.
He shuttled between jobs and worked night shifts even while he was making Shuddhi during the days.
“The script was conceived in 2013, but due to unforeseen circumstances, it could go on floors only in 2014 and finally sees its release this year.”
The director says that all the women he has seen in his family and among friends has influenced the making of Shuddhi. “I have a mother and a sister who have led balanced lives,” he says. “And there were also my six cousins and friends. I didn’t start out to write a women-centric film, but as I started exploring what to write, I arrived at this concept and that took me seven to eight months.” He says that general observations also helped develop the characters better.
His curiosity led him to read as many newspaper articles as possible about women facing different kinds of problems and he even refered to few clippings on Youtube. Adarsh says, “While my film is a work of fiction, there are three incidents from real life, which ties the story together. One is about the Nirbhaya case,” he says but hastens to clarify that he hasn’t shown the exact incident. “The incident triggers one of the characters to start fighting against such crimes,” he explains.
Adarsh defines Shuddhi as purification and says it is one of names for Goddess Durga. The goddess is an influence on one of the characters, played by Lauren Spartano.
“She is one of the female leads who is on a spiritual journey, while she is also out for revenge. There are two sides to it,” he says. “Lauren is from Los Angeles, and she has done theatre and few short films in Hollywood. She is an experienced actress.”
The film also features Niveditha is a lead role with Amrutha Karagada debuting in a full-fledged role, says the director.
Adarsh stresses that Shuddhi is different from Pradeep Verma’s Urvi, the title of which also makes a reference to Goddess Kali. “With both the trailers out at the same time, there is also mutual admiration between the teams. The entire team of Urvi have appreciated Shuddhi trailer,” he says.
Shuddhi’s one more attraction lies with foreign technicians coming on board. Music director Jesse Clinton and Director of Photography Andrew Aiello have associated with Adarsh for Shuddhi with the sound design by Nithin Lukose. “The music director and DOP know me during my stay in New York Film Academy. Since then we have a great understanding. They knew about Shuddhi from the scratch and I thought it was best to associate with them,” he says.
The film made under Saanvi Picture are looking for a early summer release. “We hope to come in the first week of March,” he says.