Of late, the Kannada film industry has been releasing a number of productions dealing with urban themes. The latest to join this league of contemporary movies is debut filmmaker Vinay Bharadwaj’s Mundina Nildana (Next Station). Starring Praveen Tej, Radhika Chetan and debutante Ananya Kashyap, the film has received a positive response not just in India but also in the US, where it released on November 23.
Emotional quotient
The story is about three individuals who are chasing their goals but their paths cross and this leads them to question their priorities in life. Talking about the film Vinay says, “Before the film released, I used to say Mundina Nildana is the story of three people’s emotional journey, a narrative about how the protagonists change emotionally and what prompts them to question their career and relationships. Now, after the film has released and based on the feedback I have received, I think it’s more accurate to say that it is a mirror to everyone’s life, not just that of the protagonists.”
The story of Partha (Praveen), Meera (Radhika) and Ahana (Ananya) isn’t confined to one city. The narrative moves from India to The Netherlands and Belgium, and back to India. The filmmaker says the story had to be shot at these locations because it was an integral part of the plot. “Even before I wrote the screenplay, I had visualised the film. For example, when I thought of the breakup scene, I had already envisioned where it had to be shot. The locations played a very important role and I did not want to compromise. I like real locations, so we haven’t used a single set. This was not a big budget film so I got these locations on barter. We shot in Bengaluru, Kolar, Tumkur, Sakleshpur, Mangalore, and Himachal Pradesh besides The Netherlands and Belgium,” reveals Vinay who shot the film in 32 days.
Keeping it warm
The remarkable aspect of the film is its cinematography by Abhimanyu Sadanandan. Whether it is indoor sequences or outdoor scenes, the visuals have been shot with a dream-like effect. “I was very clear about the look and feel of the film. More than 50 per cent of the film is shot at night to get the right mood, warmth and lighting. We used a Red Gemini camera and Cooke Lens. This combination was great to shoot night shots because it doesn’t make the footage look grainy,” reveals the filmmaker. In fact, Vinay has also par tnered with Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Color for the colouring of the film, a first for a Kannada movie. The ‘next stop’ for Mundina Nildana and its maker is Singapore, where the film releases on December 14.
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