Mangalore: 'Aamait Asal Eemait Kusal' Tulu Film to Tickle your Funny Bone

Florine Roche
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Jan 9: A product of Whistling Woods International (WWI), young, suave, tech-savvy, passionate about film making and Tulu film – may be you thought all these aspects don’t gel well. That is exactly what is happening with another Tulu comedy film “Aamait Asal Eemait Kusal”, (AAEK) which is all set to release in theatres in this coastal region by this month end. Debutant and young director Ranjan Raaghu Shetty, the son this soil, bred and educated in Mumbai, is directing this comedy flick, a product of his labour of love and passion for his mother-tongue Tulu. 

The film based on Shakespearean play “A Comedy of Errors” can be termed as a new year’s gift to the people of this land – all those who can speak and understand Tulu language. It is gift primarily because none was aware that such a film was in the making. There has been absolutely no publicity prior or during the shooting and the producers went about their task without any ado till they completed the shooting. So much so, when the crew started to talk about the film recently as part of publicity, people asked when they will commence their shooting. The filmmakers were of the opinion that they will do the talking only after the completion of the shooting rather than build up the tempo before shooting.

The shooting had begun in May 2011 and has been shot at Mumbai and different parts of Dakshina Kannada and is completed. The producers and others involved in the making of the film are now giving a final touch to get it ready for release this month end. Post production work of the film is now underway in Hyderabad. The film is simultaneously shot in Telugu language also.

This movie is produced by Yodha Entertainment, which has been established by Ranjan and his senior-turned close chum Surya Menon, who also has a Mangalorean connection as his mother is a Mangalorean. AAEK is the first born baby of the coming together of these young and passionate film makers. A youthful and confident Ranjan Shetty, speaking to daijiworld.com says “it has been a dream comes true for us to do this film. Even our parents have given us their whole hearted support and are involved in the making of the film”.

Ranjan who has a IT background came to WWI after winning the contest of Nokia N Series Awards in mobile film making competition in 2007 for his film “solitude Dreams”. The contestants were required to produce a 3 minute film shot from their mobiles. As the winner of this highly competitive and creative contest he was entitled a free 1st semester course in WWI and that brought Ranjan to Subhash Ghai promoted WWI in Mumbai from Germany. What made this IT guy to contest in a film competition? “The movie I made for the contest had something to do with the digital aspect. Moreover my dad is an avid film watcher and I guess it must be in my genes that brought me into this creative field which is bustling with creative activity finding artistic expressions in myriad forms”, he reasons.

Ranjan had met Surya Menon in WWI. Though he was a batch senior they got along well may be due to their Tulu background. The relationship further cemented as Ranjan who began to work for an ad agency realized that is cinema in which he finds gratification and got in touch with Surya to share his idea. Yodha Entertainment was soon born and they felt they wanted to do a film in Tulu, their mother tongue and got into action. Surya Menon wrote the screenplay (in English) which was adapted to Tulu with dialogues by Vijaykumar Kodialbail and Sai Krishna M. Ace Tulu comedy actor Kusaldarase Navin D Padil and Jyothish Shetty essay the lead roles in the film. Bhojraj Vamanjoor also has an important role in the film. Mangalorean Akshatha Marla and Mumbaites Shilpa Kotian, Saritha Shetty and Sukanya Rai play the leading roles of female lead in the movie.

The title of the movie clearly suggests it is a comedy flick. Ranjan who responded to the query why they have chosen a comedy film, says “though I would have preferred a thriller our market study showed that people always had a predilection for comedy and all successful Tulu plays had comedy as its USP. So we kind of decided it is better to begin with a comedy flick”.

An interesting aspect of AAEK is that it is the young blood which synergized and decided to pool its creativity to this film. The movie has two songs the lyrics of which are written by Shashiraj Rao Kavoor. Hamsika Iyer who crooned with Akon’s ‘Chammak Challo’ for SRK’s Ra One has sung one of the songs. Music is composed by Akash Prajapathi and Umang Doshi. Screenplay is by Surya Menon. Cinematographer Saleel Pathak is a youngster, bubbling with activity. Editor of the movie Manan Ashwin Mehta has worked as Associate Editor for ‘Zindagi Na Milege Dubara’, ‘Don 2’ and ‘Break Ke Baad’. All these Mumbai-based youngsters, some of them products of Whistling Woods, have rendered their technical services to the movie, and is sure to be technically brilliant.

To a query on why only two songs in the film as the general trend in most of the movies these days is to go in for more songs Ranjan says “from the beginning we are clear about what we want. It is our story and we did not want to cram unwanted or unnecessary stuff in the movie just as fillers. The story did not demand more songs and so we stuck to our original ideas”.

Tulu actor Sai Krishna, who is the associate Director of AAEK and has also acted in it, says “it is a comedy film and will make people float in the realm of laughter and is also a complete family entertainer. The surprise element of the movie Ranjan points out is “both the lead actors Navin and Jyothish have done a brilliant job. Navin Padil needs no introduction and Jyothish has showed equal brilliance as an actor. I am sure Jyothish will be flooded with lot of offers after this movie. Both these lead actors carry 80% of the film on their shoulders”.

Ranjan says that shooting here has been a wonderful experience for him and his entire team. “People have been very generous and went out of the way to help us and we always treasure this experience”, Ranjan maintained. The filmmakers have teamed up with daijiworld.com, Red FM and Namma TV. The first song was aired on Red FM coming Sunday, January 8, 2012.

Shakespeare has always been an inspiration to filmmakers both in India and elsewhere. This young brood has taken this Shakesphearean theme for their first movie. But what matters is the treatment they give to the adaptation and how they will make people laugh, not an easy job to do. Considering the passion exhibited by Ranjan, Sai Krishna and the team as a whole and their bubbly creativity, one expects AAEK to once again to create ripples in Tulu cinema and set cash registers ringing.
 

Genre: Comedy

Studio: Yodha Entertainment

About: Aamait Asal Eemait Kusal is a comedy film based on William Shakespeare’s play “A Comedy of Errors”

Plot Outline: The story revolves around two sets of identical twins with the same name; two servants and their two masters, separated at birth. Hilarity ensues when the two separated pairs bump into each other after many years and each one is confused for the other. The film is a wholesome family entertainer.

Star cast

Jyothish Shetty,
Navin D. Padil
Bhojaraj Vamanjoor
Sai Krishna M.
Akshata Marla
Sukhanya Rai
Sarita Shetty
Shipla Kotian
Uday Kumar Uppinangady
Navin Shetty Mijar
G. K Kenchankere
Sudhir Kottary
Shashiraj Rao Kavoor
Sadashiv Amin
Umesh Amin
Ranjan Bolur
Bhaskar Adyapady and many more..

Directed by Ranjan Raghu Shetty
Screenplay by Surya Menon
Produced by Ranjan Raghu Shetty, Surya Menon

Website http://www.yodha.in.