Panchama Adhyaya will be the third anthology to be released in Kannada, with the first two spearheaded by veteran director Puttanna Kanagal in 1976, and Rishab Shetty film’s Katha Sangama, 2019.
While there are a couple in the making, this film conceptualised and produced by Abhinandan Urs brings together five visionary stories and directors for an anthology. It has completed shooting and passed through the Censor Board with a U/A.
Interestingly, the film weaves together women-centric stories, highlighting topics of mental illness, child harassment, generation gap and self-respect. Sharing the first few stills from the film, Abhinandan mentioned that along with him, he would have first-time directors Anil Kumar B H, Nagbhushan Deshpandy, Pavan Shankar, and Ranjan VV making their debut with this anthology.
“We also have five DOPs -- Ranjith Sethu, Achyuth BS and Enosh Olivers cranking the camera for various episodes. The film’s music is scored by Adil Nadaf, and Rajith Sethu is taking care of the editing,” he reveals.
The makers have managed to bring on board a few noted actors like Rajesh Nataranga, Sridhar KS, Aruna Balraj, Chandan Achar, Nisha BK, Mayuri Nataraj and Aishwarya Gowda, among others, as part of the star cast. As for the release, Abhinandan is looking to hit theatres in June, depending on the pandemic situation. “We are also routing for an OTT release, and have made our first approach,” he says.