Raksh and Shubha Poonja get chatty about Naragunda Bandaya

The upcoming Kannada film

Naragunda Bandaya

turned out to be an eye-opening experience for its lead actors, Raksh and Shubha Poonja. And they tell us that it will prove to be so for the audience as well. The Nagendra Magadi directorial focuses on presenting a slightly fictionalised version of the historic revolt of the farmers of Naragunda. Here, while Raksh plays a farmer called

Veerappa Kadlikoppa

, who had a pivotal role in the uprising, Shubha is his love interest, Rani. The excitement of portraying such a story on screen and the experiences of interacting with villagers during the shoot, was evident in their conversation with us. Excerpts…

The film has a rural setting and you shot extensively during the summer. How challenging was the experience?
Raksh: We used to wake up at around 5 am every day, and head to the location which was 40 kms away from the hotel we were staying at. We shot in March and April, and the weather was quite hot. There was barely any shade around, and we could not have vanity vans close by, given that there were wide angle shots and the vans could not be seen in the frame.
But the good part about shooting there had to do with the people of that village that we got to interact with. For instance, our characters in the film speak the

Uttara Karnataka

dialect. It became easier for us to speak the dialect on the set, because of our interactions with the localities. We heard their stories and chatted about experiences. We were often invited to eat at their homes.
Shubha: The localites were on the set most of the time, talking to us and watching the shoot as well — so much so that they had even memorised all the dialogues.

Any experiences from your shooting schedule that you cannot forget ever?
Shubha: Yes, there was an incident involving Raksh and a horse. (chuckles)
Raksh: See, there was this horse that would do a dance move every time I mounted it. It was strange. We eventually found out that the horse moved that way out of training and habit — it had been part of many wedding processions. So, as soon as he heard music, he would lift himself up and move his hooves. The script did not demand that sort of talent, so we finally had him replaced.

You have mentioned that shooting for this film gave you a reality check of sorts. Do explain.
Raksh: Water scarcity is a real problem. Being in the city, we do not even understand half the struggles people in the villages undergo because of this. Women walk long distances just to be able to get enough water for the survival of their families. At one location that we filmed at, there was a pond with water that seemed contaminated. Yet, left with no other choice, people would dip a white cloth in it, strain the water into a container and use it for drinking and bathing. Incidents like these opened our eyes to the issues people faced.
Shubha: It also made us realise that this film is pivotal in conveying the current state of affairs, and these real stories of farmers and the people who live here, to today’s generation. The title of our film also refers to this. Naragunda is the place in Karanataka where this important Bandaya (protest) took place.
Raksh: While we set out to tell this important story from history, the struggles here have not stopped. Our film team has also decided to set up a relief fund. All returns from this film will be channelized towards building a canal at this village, which is the need of the hour.