Shivu makes directorial debut after 12 years

With roots in a small town called Jamakhandi near Bagalkot, Karnataka, Shivu Jamakhandi moved to Bengaluru 12 years ago to begin his career in the Kannada film industry. 'I started as a lyricist, songwriter and story writer before moving to assisting directors on various projects,' says Shivu, who is finally making his debut as director with the Vijay Raghavendra- and Nidhi Subbaiah-starrer Nanna Ninna Premakathe.
The story for this film, also written by Shivu, is set in Uttara Karnataka. 'It's a film that is inspired by a true incident. But it could be your story ' it is a simple love story that I am sure everybody can relate to. I am not making any tall claims about the story being something you may have never heard before, but the difference is in the style of narration. I have also worked on the music and it feels good to see that people are appreciating it enough for it to steadily climb music charts,' explains the director.
Shivu adds that his choice of cast was preplanned. 'The story required a wholesome actor and for that, Vijay Raghavendra was our first and only choice. It is a challenging role as he was required to work on getting the right dialect to authenticate the setting of the story. He plays the role of a Madarangi (a guy who applies mehendi on the hands of girls at places of tourist interest; here ' outside the Gulbarga Fort) during the day, and a musician as part of an orchestra in the evenings. We were also keen on casting a Kannadiga heroine as well, and we waited for Nidhi to complete her commitments before she could join us for the shoot,' he says.
On making a directorial debut after a good 12 years of being in the industry, Shivu says, 'While it has been a long journey here, it has been one of learning. I worked with some of the industry's biggest names like Hamsalekha, Jayanth Kaikini, S Narayan and Ramesh Aravind, among many others, who have each taught me so much during my journey here. Now, I am equipped and confident of taking a story through from scratch to the point when it is released onscreen, and I am thankful to all my teachers for that.'