Farmer by roots, advocate by profession, and filmmaker by passion, Chandrashekar Bandiyappa still avoids calling himself a director. Instead, he prefers to see himself as an audience member telling stories from the audience’s point of view. Having started with Aane Pataki (2013), followed by the hit Rathaavara (2015) starring Sriimurali and Tharakaasura (2018), he is back, eight years later, with his fourth directorial, Chowkidar, set to release on January 30.
This time, he returns not as a filmmaker chasing trends, but as a storyteller driven by responsibility, rooted values, and quiet confidence in simple, human stories. “I never direct a film thinking I am above the audience. I always tell myself I am one among them. I try to see every scene the way a common viewer will see it,” says Chandrashekar.
Recalling the release of Rathaavara in 2015, he shares a moment that stayed with him. “The night before release, the producer asked me to look for an auto. I asked what happened to his big SUV, and he told me he had sold it to pay Qube charges. I felt like I had lost someone’s house. I could not sleep that night,” he says. “Luckily, the next day, the film got good audiences and became a hit. The producer made back double the money, and the film did business of around Rs 20 crore. Only then did I feel peaceful.”
That experience shaped his approach to filmmaking. “I fear making films that may put producers at risk. I never want to cross my moral limits. These are values I learned as a farmer and as a lawyer. Even if I make only a few films, I want to be known as a producer’s director who respects the money invested,” he says. Chowkidar is produced by Dr Kallahalli Chandrashekara under the VS Entertainments banner, with Vidhyadevi joining as co-producer. Chandrashekar shares a personal connection with the producer. “In 2014, he was the principal of a college and I was his student. Today, he is my producer. I really hope we don’t lose producers like him,” he says.
The film brings together an interesting mix of actors, with Pruthvi Ambaar, veteran Sai Kumar, and Dhanya Ramkumar in the lead, along with Swetha, Sudharani, Dharma, Muniraju, Arjun Kautilya, Benjamin Sandeep, and Prashant Gouli in key roles. “I watched Pruthvi in Dia and felt he is a very strong performer. Then we have Sai Kumar sir, who has completed 50 years in the industry, which itself is rare. I wanted to give him a role that is different from what he usually does, and he suited it perfectly,” Chandrashekar says, before adding, “Dhanya also has a unique character in the film.”
Talking about the theme, he explains that Chowkidar is a generational story. “Earlier, families had four to six children. Today, most parents prefer one or at most two. This creates possessive love, which slowly affects the child’s individuality and leads to serious consequences,” he says. “Sai Kumar sir himself told me this is the first time he is playing such a role. If this character connects, the film will reach a lot of people.” The film is an intense action drama that explores the thin line between duty and defiance, featuring Pruthvi Ambaar in a never-seen-before mass avatar and Sai Kumar in a powerful role. The father-son relationship in the film came from real-life observation. “I once met a man who had an only son, and someone there shared a few things about their family. That stayed with me. Most of my characters come from what I see and hear around me,” he adds. Chandrashekar also mentions that Dhanya’s mother, actor Poornima, was happy with her daughter’s growth after the film. “She felt Dhanya had matured both as an actor and as a person after Chowkidar. That means a lot to me,” he says.