What would you do if you were given a chance to go back three days in time after your death?
Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? Hemanth Kumar’s solo debut directorial Thurthu Nirgamana explores this fascinating subject with actor Sunil Raoh in the lead. The unconventional yet mainstream Kannada film, which will see Sunil grace the big screen after 10 years, also stars Raj B Shetty, Samyuktha Hegde, Sudha Rani, Achyutha Kumar and Hitha Chandrashekar.
Talking about how Thurthu Nirgamana was born, Hemanth Kumar, who had earlier co-directed Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu with Hemanth Rao, says, “The movie portrays what one could do when they get back to the last three days of their life. How do you get this chance, what would you do and what’s the meaning of these three days – these are the metaphors in this film. It’s been narrated in a simple way without getting preachy. It mocks life and death in certain places and suggests that one shouldn’t take life too seriously. The concept was born through my personal experiences.”
Hemanth Kumar
The project, produced by Kumar and Kumar films and Shylaja Pictures, has visual effects that cinema buffs should watch out for.
“When writing it, I didn’t think of it as a ‘VFX’ film, but the VFX is one of the highlights of this movie. When you watch it, you will feel like this can happen to you. There’s surreal stuff in the film and the special effects are such that they should be watched only on the big screen! Technically, it’s been quite a learning experience, as we didn’t have a reference point,” reveals Hemanth, who had initially picked another actor before Sunil Raoh. “When I watched the Loose Connection teaser, I wanted to hire him. It was a hard decision as I’d already confirmed another actor, but thankfully, he was good enough to let go of it. I spoke to Sunil who jumped into it,” shares the filmmaker.
For Sunil, who’s back to Kannada cinema after a decade, Thurthu was the perfect comeback choice.
“The concept is whacky as revealed in the teaser. On one hand, you have my character Vikram, who’s very laidback and doesn’t value time and life, but these three days make him realise the value of time. His interpersonal relationships, how he realises the importance of these things, his interactions with his mum and sister etc., are some things that appealed to me and will definitely interest the audiences too,” says the actor, who wanted to pick something really out-of-the-box for his comeback.
Sunil Raoh
As for his director Hemanth, he says, “I was impressed by his clarity and confidence. He’s surprisingly composed for a first-timer and is quite sure-footed. He has a good team that knows its craft well. He’s open to new things and to different ways of thinking.”
For actor Samyuktha Hegde, who plays an 18-year-old college student in the flick, the idea of the film was fascinating. And the fact that she got to play yet another character similar to her personality was a plus point for the outspoken artiste.
“I love the fact that they’re experimenting with a new genre. My character is really cool, just like myself and loves playing cricket! She’s similar to Arya in Kirik Party. She’s a fun-loving girl who makes sure people are seen and heard,” says the actor, who praises her director for earnestly putting in great effort into the film.
Samyuktha Hegde
Ask them why the audiences should watch Thurthu Nirgamana and the film’s lead actor instantly replies, “Sunil Raoh! Also, apart from what’s shown in the teaser, there’s so much more in the film in terms of technical stuff and hitting the right notes at the emotional and intellectual level. It’s a neatly made film which has content and entertainment. We’ve also tried things that are quite new to our industry. And the cast is so versatile – from Sudha Rani to Achyutha Kumar playing never-seen-before roles. Raj Shetty will be seen in a totally different avatar too. There’s also some zing factor in terms of visuals and we’ve tried some novel things as well.”
Thurthu Nirgamana aka Emergency Exit hits theatres at the end of February.