‘99 is a film that will evoke nostalgia in everyone’

When filmmaker Preetham Gubbi watched the Tamil film 96, he was so moved by it that he not only saw it again, but also told his friends, including actor Ganesh, to do so. “I had not seen it with the intention of making it in Kannada, but purely as a movie-watching audience. I also told Ganesh to watch it and to take it up if someone were to approach him to make a

Kannada

version. Around that time, I was busy writing a script for a film with Ganesh, when I had a chance encounter with producer Ramu. He asked me if I had seen

96

and if I would be interested in making it with Ganesh in the lead. I took it up without any questions because I liked the subject a lot,” explains Preetham.

The story, which he has made for Kannada film audiences as

99

, follows childhood sweethearts Ram (Ganesh) and Jaanu (Bhavana), who go their separate ways, only to meet again at a school reunion. “The film is a beautiful journey of two people with 20 years of story between 1999 and 2019, when they were in Class 10 and now. It is a portrayal of true love, as Ram has always been in love with her. I have no doubt that audiences will relate to that as everyone would have a story from their school days, be it a first crush, or a close friendship. When you see Ram and Jaanu, not only will you have a sense of nostalgia, but you will also have a strong urge to reach out to people you knew from your school days,” adds Preetham.
But is the subject relatable to young audiences today? “This may be a milieu in which relationships are a lot more casual and people move on easily, but that is exactly why a film like 99 needs to be made — to remind people of the beauty of true love,” the filmmaker signs off.