A passionate filmmaker — proof lies in the 12-year wait to make his first film — all
Hemanth Rao
wanted when making last year’s
Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu
(GBSM) was to narrate a tale that was on his mind for a long time. “I am an old-school director who doesn’t think of much else while penning my tale. Making a film to bag an award is not part of my cinematic process,” says the director who has just won the prestigious
Gollapudi Srinivas award
for best debut film for GBSM.
What makes the achievement doubly special is that the film was selected from 20 nominations across the country, including Malayalam, Assamese, Tamil and Bengali. “I am a proud Kannadiga. Having been born and raised in Jayanagar, an intrinsically
Kannada
quarters, my story was steeped in the culture of the city. It definitely feels gratifying when your work garners recognition,” he adds.
GBSM is the tale of a father-son relationship and was inspired by the director’s own life. “I was close to my father when I was young. But somewhere along the line, the words and actions that proved my love for him, stopped being free flowing. It is this change in dynamics that set me thinking. Of course, through the making of GBSM, it all changed and the film proved to be cathartic. I’m back to being the old me with my father,” says Hemanth. He adds, “I always believed that filmmaking was a solitary journey. It is not. I cannot imagine Godhi Banna... being what it came to be without Anant (Nag) sir,
Rakshit Shetty, Vasishta, Sruthi Hariharan or Achyut (Kumar) sir. This award belongs to them all,” says Hemanth, who will collect his trophy at a ceremony in Chennai in August.Check out the
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