Karnataka:
There are few women directors such as Kavitha Lankesh, Vijayalakshmi Singh, Sumana Kittoor and Aarati in Sandalwood. Now, Pushpa from Bhadravathi is set to join the bandwagon of women directors in Kannada film industry. Pushpa, mother of five children, had nourished an ambition of becoming an actress since her childhood.
Being an illiterate, Pushpa faced no hassles to act as a college girl in late Puttanna Kanagal's film Kathaasangama. "I had to go to Mysore to attend the shooting of Kathaasangama. I acted as a college student,'' recalls Pushpa.
After essaying small roles in Dr Vishnuvardhan's film Ravi Varma and Ananth Nag's film Gayathri Madhuve, Pushpa got the chance to act in Gandugali Rama.
"It was a rape scene. Kalyankumar objected to me playing such a role since I belong to a respectable family. Kalyankumar found out that my husband Ramakrishna Shetty had attempted to make a movie based on Dr Chandrasekhara Kambara's novel -- GK Master Pranaya Prasanga,'' explains Pushpa. Later, she tried to become a director with the support of Tiptur Raghu.
Now, she has handled the megaphone apart from playing a key role in film Naavella Bharatheeyaru. "My second daughter Manjushree had helped me prepare the script for this film apart from playing the second heroine role while her third daughter Rashmi played the heroine role,'' narrates Pushpa.
The debutante director can speak Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Tulu, Hindi and Kannada. Elaborating about the script of Naavella Bharatheeyaru, she said that is about a school master fighting untouchability, exploitation of the downtrodden and superstition.
"It highlights the importance of patriotism. I am hopeful of Kannada cinegoers encouraging this film,'' said the director.
The film's shooting was completed in 30 days and the Regional Censor Board has given it a U certificate. Layendra has provided music while Mahabaleswarappa, an ex-serviceman, who joined as an artiste but ended up as the co-producer.
Being an illiterate, Pushpa faced no hassles to act as a college girl in late Puttanna Kanagal's film Kathaasangama. "I had to go to Mysore to attend the shooting of Kathaasangama. I acted as a college student,'' recalls Pushpa.
After essaying small roles in Dr Vishnuvardhan's film Ravi Varma and Ananth Nag's film Gayathri Madhuve, Pushpa got the chance to act in Gandugali Rama.
"It was a rape scene. Kalyankumar objected to me playing such a role since I belong to a respectable family. Kalyankumar found out that my husband Ramakrishna Shetty had attempted to make a movie based on Dr Chandrasekhara Kambara's novel -- GK Master Pranaya Prasanga,'' explains Pushpa. Later, she tried to become a director with the support of Tiptur Raghu.
Now, she has handled the megaphone apart from playing a key role in film Naavella Bharatheeyaru. "My second daughter Manjushree had helped me prepare the script for this film apart from playing the second heroine role while her third daughter Rashmi played the heroine role,'' narrates Pushpa.
The debutante director can speak Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Tulu, Hindi and Kannada. Elaborating about the script of Naavella Bharatheeyaru, she said that is about a school master fighting untouchability, exploitation of the downtrodden and superstition.
"It highlights the importance of patriotism. I am hopeful of Kannada cinegoers encouraging this film,'' said the director.
The film's shooting was completed in 30 days and the Regional Censor Board has given it a U certificate. Layendra has provided music while Mahabaleswarappa, an ex-serviceman, who joined as an artiste but ended up as the co-producer.
