The film industry was one of the worst-hit due to the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown. With theatres shut for the past eight months, the fate of new releases remained bleak and uncertain. Quite a few production houses have opted for the alternative route – the OTT – to release their films. Even now, when theatres have opened, filmmakers are sceptical about releasing new films on the big screens.
In a bold move, filmmaker Mansore has decided to release his ACT 1978 in theatres. It will be the first new Sandalwood film release post the lockdown. The film hit the marquee on Friday and several stars in the Kannada film industry, such as Shiva Rajkumar and Puneeth Rajkumar, have wished the team. The latest to join in is Kiccha Sudeep. Taking to social media, Sudeep wrote, “Saw the film, fantastic effort and fabulous performances by all. My bst wshs for the release, team #Act1978, cheers.” Besides this, the actor also shared the poster of the film with the theatre list.
Saw the film,,,fantastic effort and fabulous performances by all.
— Kichcha Sudeepa (@KicchaSudeep) November 19, 2020
My bst wshs for the release ,team #Act1978 .
cheers. pic.twitter.com/hxGfbL13vX
A social thriller, ACT 1978 stars Yagna Shetty in the lead. The film’s cast also includes Pramod Shetty, B Suresha, Shruthi, Ravi Bhat, Sudha Belawadi, Achyuth Kumar, Krishna Hebbale, Raghu Shivamogga, Shobhraj and RJ Nethra. The story is written by the director along with TK Dayanand and Veeru Mallanna.
In an interview to TNIE, director Mansore revealed that ACT 1978 was based on his personal experiences. The director revealed, “My father, who was working in the state government, suddenly passed away, post which, I went through a tough time running in and out of government offices when I went to seek his pension dues.
“The way the officials handled this case was a traumatic experience. The government employee sitting on the third floor refused to handle the file because it was received by another colleague of his on the first floor. It was only after I raised my voice and shouted that I will bring the matter to media attention that they decided to process the papers.”
The technical crew of this film includes Rahul Shivakumar for music and Bakkesh Ronada for background score. The film will have just one song which is a theme number and more importance has been given to the background score, we hear. According to Mansore, Satya Hegde has shot the film with multiple cameras, which will make it an interesting watch. ACT 1978 will be distributed by KRG Studios.
With ACT 1978 being the first Kannada film to release after theatres opened post-lockdown, there are a lot of expectations on this film.
(Content provided by Digital Native)