Karnataka

Kannada film in Guinness

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Shanti, an off-beat Kannada film directed by the noted writer, Baragur Ramachandrappa, has earned the rare distinction of being the second Indian film to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.

The Guinness has so far selected only three films, including Shanti, for the honours. The first-ever Indian film to earn the distinction was Sunil Dutt's Hindi film, Yaadein, in 1964. The lone European film selected for the honour was La Derniere Lettre (France/USA), directed by Frederick Wiseman in 2002. All the three films, excluding monologues, are narratives with a single actor.

Shanti attempts to explore the multiple faces of peace by juxtaposing symbolism and monologues. Dr. Ramachandrappa told presspersons here on Thursday that the film, though experimental, was not produced for the sake of experiment. "I have given more importance to exploring the creative aspects of the theme than to conceptualise it." Writing the screenplay was a challenging task, as he had to accommodate ideological issues without compromising on logic and reasoning. The theme of the film was to explore the means and methods of fighting terrorism without compromising on the human values espoused by the United Nations.

"The reference to the U.N. is vital in this context as the world body is the creation of two contradictory state of affairs — war and peace. I have selected the female character in the film as peace is generally considered feminine whereas war is masculine," he said. Realising the bleak possibilities of releasing the film for the public in a commercial set-up, he launched a month-long programme "Samudaayadatta Cinema." Under the programme, he organised the screening of the film in many cities, towns and villages situated between Bangalore and Belgaum. That helped the promotion of art cinema and attracted more people to it.

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