In a big win for Kannada cinema, Raam Reddy’s film “Thithi” is receiving accolades from across the world ahead of its country-wide release on June 3.
The State Award-winning film has so far wowed a number of Bollywood film personalities who’s watched it. With a full cast of non-professional actors and a story set in rural Mandya, Thithi took everyone by surprise when it began winning awards at every film festival it was screened at.
Watching #Thithi was such an amazing endearing experience :-) @RaamReddy89 pic.twitter.com/R7DomrTLZk
— irrfan (@irrfan_k) May 31, 2016
The film has been screened in eight film festivals winning nine awards. Even Francis Ford Coppola, the director of The Godfather had good things to say about the film. In his speech as the jury president at Marrakech Film Festival, Morocco (where Thithi was screened, Cuppola said: “Thithi is joyous with unforgettable characters.”
It's a little difficult to slot it into a genre, but it's really funny. Don't miss it. Love. a. (4/4)
— Aamir Khan (@aamir_khan) May 30, 2016
In an interview with The News Minute, director Raam Reddy revealed that his relationship with the people he worked with (his friends from film school) played a big part in the success of the film. “We had a very similar sort of vision on storytelling and knowing what is important in the process of filmmaking. We kinda grew together, built our views on film together. Often, when you have a crew who have studied in one Institute, the ethos comes into the work of art”.
The film took three-and-a-half years to make. The director also credits much of the success of the film to his colleague and friend Ere Gowda, who is the script writer for Thithi.
A few years ago, Ere Gowda worked as a security guard in Raam’s father’s office and they struck up an unlikely friendship that they extended to making short films together. It was Raam’s first visit to Nodekoppalu village in Mandya district, Ere Gowda’s hometown, that sowed the seeds for the film.
Saw THITHI the 4th time and it was funnier than it was ever before.I seriously envy this Ram Reddy, how do you make non actors act so well?
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) May 30, 2016
“His relationship with the village was special, he had a sort of inroads into the authenticity of the place and we had such a special relationship. Since he was born and brought up in the village, he was an insider into the world and knew that world very well. He knew all the people, he knew a lot of stories. Being an outsider, I could filter through what was interesting but also cinematically compatible”, he added.
This spontaneity in their work appears to have struck a chord with the audience. The film premiered at the 68th Locarno International Film Festival in August 2015 where the director won the Golden Leopard in the Filmmakers of the Present category as well as the Swatch First Feature award. The film went on an award-winning streak at film festivals held in Mumbai, Marrrakech (Morocco), Palm Springs among various other cities. At the 63rd National Film Awards, the film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada.