A clarion call for today

Pavana Gowda shares what it takes to choose the right film and how she gives every film her best shot

A film titled Gombegala Love introduced quite a few new comers as actors and technicians to the Kannada film industry. The film, which was released in 2013, was had a totally different take on a love story and was completely devoid of glamour.

The film, had actor Shruti and Achyuth Kumar in supporting roles and even the critics hailed the film as one of the “best efforts” in the Kannada film industry. Though the film was not a huge success commercially, it did drew enough attention and paved way for a successful career in the industry. One actor who has never looked back after playing the protagonist in the film is Pavana Gowda.

She portrayed the role of a girl who is paralysed, who is then wedded to a man also bed ridden. How they keep each other company and build dream is what the film dealt with.

Ever since, Pavana seems to have knack to choose off beat stories for her career. The actor, who is currently finishing off the shoot for Karky, a psychological thriller, is all set for the release of Rudri. While Pavana plays a modern girl in Karky, she plays a rural girl in Rudri. The latter is a far cry from being pretty, dialogues but the teasers show that Pavana has a strong role.

Rudri, which is almost reayd for release is creating waves in the industry ever since Puneeth Rajkumar hailed the film as “good” and even launched its teaser last month.

Pavana, who plays the titular role in the film, talks about what went into its making film.

Edited excerpts

Tell us about your role in Rudri.

This film is set in North Karnataka. I am happy as I feel a film is being made in the North Karnataka dialect after decades. So for me this film is dedicated to the people of that region.

Can you share the gist of the film?

The story is based on many true life incidents. So this film is special to me. It is about a young girl, who has lost both her parents and is brought up by her grand mother. She is naive and trusts all and is physically violated. What happens to her after that and how she copes with the incident is what the film is all about. The goon thing about the film is that the emphasis is not at all on the abuse; but on her personality, strength and how she changes.

Each film of yours is different from the other in content and visuals. How do you choose them?

There are always certain reasons to accept or reject a film. There is no set formula for it. Some offer me a powerful character, some films have a strong storyline. Then some come with a big production house backing them. Then at times, it is an actor’s dream to work with a certain director. So the reasons are many to say yes or no to a film. When Rudri came my way, it was the portrayal of my character and the storyline that captured me. Both are strong and powerful.

It is an intense film and my character goes through a lot of emotions in the film. It gave me a lot of scope as a performer. In the industry, sometimes it is hard to get a good role. You will have just a song or a small role and even before you realise it you are out of the screen. That way, Rudri is a dream role. And, as actor, I want to keep a balance as we need to be seen in both genres.

Which genre would you say Rudri belongs to?

No matter what the content or the portrayal is, I believe there is just good and bad cinema. According to me Rudri belongs to the former. I define it as a good-content based cinema that will keep the audience engaged.

Tell us about the preparations you did for your role in this film.

I will not say that I did a major research. As I was portraying a character from a rural area, I spent a lot of my time in my village in Mandya. I stayed there and observed the people, the way they sit, talk, eat and even walked barefoot.

In cities we become polished and wear stylised masks. There, they are a bit careless in the way they do everything. So I soaked in all that.

Then, I took off to the shooting location a week ahead of the shoot and stayed with a family in that region. I even helped them in their household chores so I could be like them and blend in with them. I even learnt their dialect. This for me was tough... to get the dialect right and emote. It was a lot of hard work.

Any other experience you want to share?

The making of Rudri itself was a challenge for me. The locations were very far. Vehicles could not go there. So we had to walk long hours in the hot sun. As a result even food and water would not reach us on time as technicians had to bring all that on foot.

We also shot at a few locked-down factories which gave most of us the creeps. Places where not even a soul had ventured for years till we went in. Then we also shot at an abandoned well way out of the village. You know the type that gives out a lot if negative energy. I had goosebumps all through. Of course, it enhanced my performance. We shot at nights and worked with just the moonlight. And sometimes the lights would burst for no reason! It was a creepy, scary experience. Most of us did our best to focus on we had to do and leave.

What are your next releases?

I have Mysore Diaries and Toothu Madike, both almost ready for a release too.