Zita Usha Fernandes

Mangaluru, Mar 12: Do you remember a Saraswat Konkani movie 'Jana Mana' of 1980 produced and directed by a young and energetic man called Ramesh Kamath? That picture was highly praised by both press and public. It ran for two weeks in the biggest cinema hall of Mangaluru then, Central Talkies, to full houses, ran for 100 days in Dakshina Kannada, 100 days in Kerala and 50 days in Uttara Kannada district. It was the first Konkani movie to be telecast on national network of Dooradarshan, and soon, it became a household name during that period.

At that time, director K Ramesh Kamath was a young man of just 30. He was the graduate from the prestegious Pune Film and Television Institute. After passing out from FTII, he worked as associate director with national-award winning film director the late P Lankesh in all his films. Later he worked with Karnataka Film Development Corporation as chief technical officer and brought lots of changes in Karnataka Film Industry. He worked as director in the prestegious Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium too.

Now, after the lapse of 36 years, the same Dr Ramesh Kamath who is now 65 years with lots of life experience is producing and directing another Konkani film titled 'Aa Vai Jaa Saa'. This will be the ever first full length Konkani children's movie.

Says Dr Kamath, "Even though the title looks absurd and meaningless, after seeing the movie you will agree that it is the the most appropriate title and a great movie to watch by one and all. This children's Konkani movie will be beyond any caste, creed and religion, upholding the real truth for the development of our country."

Dr Ramesh Kamath will be starting the shooting of the movie in and around Udupi, Kallianpur, Saligrama and Kundapur from April 28 for 15 days. He will be in Udupi on March 14 and 15 for location and artiste hunting. He says he may need around 40 children, 10 women and 10 men who know a little bit of acting and who can speak Konkani fluently. Interested may contact him on his mobile 9845193432 or on his mail id kamath52@gmail.com.

"At this age of 65 I am venturing into this movie just to show that Konkani people can make meaningful movies and also to inspire the younger generation of the Konkani community," says Dr Ramesh Kamath.

"I need everyone's support to make this venture successful. I assure that I will not disappoint anyone at any cost. This is totally a non-commercial venture without aiming to make any profit," adds Dr Kamath.