Starring Danish Sait as an auto driver from Shivajinagar and Sal Yusuf as a French expatriate, the film, made by PRK Productions, will be one of the first from Puneeth Rajkumar’s banner to hit the OTT platform
With French Biryani, Pannaga Bharana has finally managed to find a unique title for his upcoming laugh riot. The film is being made under the banner of PRK Productions and bankrolled by Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar, who have previously produced films like Kavaludaari and Mayabazar. It is about a 3-day journey of a French expatriate with an auto driver from Shivajinagar, played by Sal Yusuf and Danish Sait, respectively. After much thought, the director is glad to have come up with a title that goes well with the narrative.
The film also stars Disha Madan, Nagabhusan and Sindhu Srinivasamurthy. The story, based on Pannaga’s personal experience, has been written by Avinash Balekala while music is by Vasuki Vaibhav and cinematography is by Karthik. French Biryani, which is now in the last stages of production, will be one of the first films from PRK Production to be released directly on the OTT platform.
“Discussions are currently on between the production house and the streaming channel, and if all goes as per plan, we will be available on the digital media in June,” says the director. With OTT platforms seeing a rise in viewership during the lockdown, Pannaga says storytellers like him primarily want people to watch their films. “One has experienced how people react to entertainment during this kind of pandemic, and digital platforms have become the best way to reach the audience.
More importantly, production houses are getting benefitted by getting associated with streaming channels. So it is a win-win situation for all of them. It is probably the next big thing,” says Pannaga, adding that it is the best medium for films made with a small budget. Pannaga, who has assisted his father, TS Nagabharana, made his film debut with Happy New Year, and his second outing will be French Biryani. The director also points out that multiplex films, which were popular once, are not an attractive option now. “With so much new content, we are not able to hold on to the theatre screens for a longer period. The advantage of having the film on OTT is that it is always there. Anybody can come and watch it any time,” he says.