Fifty years after Dr Shivaram Karanth’s Jnanpith-winning novel Chomana Dudi, which was also made it into the 1975 film of the same name by BV Karanth, carved its place as a national and state award-winning landmark, its echoes return in a new form. Bicchugatthiya Bantana Ballirena, a film that draws its breath from the same soil, is now set to release on November 28. Director and producer Anil Dorasamudra shoulders the project under the Dorasamudra Pictures banner, with his brother Naveen Simbhavi joining hands as co-producer. For them, this is not a remake, nor an imitation, but “a continuation of the emotional landscape that Chomana Dudi created.”
The team unveiled the trailer and songs in the presence of veteran actor Sundar Raj, who had acted in the original classic. The moment carried a quiet nostalgia. “This is only the second film to touch the world of Chomana Dudi,” he said, almost as a gentle reminder of the film’s legacy. “Young talents taking up such a theme is not a small thing. If they falter, forgive them."
Anil speaks of how the story found its shape. “One of our songs begins with the line Ondanondu Kaaladalli. It sounded powerful, and that became our title. Our film can be viewed as an extended chapter of Chomana Dudi. Choma fought slowly and patiently for land, but he never received justice. His son Kaala takes a different path. When he uses the ‘bicchugatti’, the sickle of rebellion, the story shifts into sharper conflict.”
He calls the new film a study of the next generation’s wounds and choices. “Only about twenty percent of Choma appears in our narrative. This film is about whether Kaala and Belli fulfil the dream their father could not. We have presented it in a commercial style while keeping the emotional intensity intact.”
The cast is led by Cheluvraj Gowda as Kaala, supported by Basum Kodagu, Sweedel D’Souza, Shailesh Kengeri, Taranath Bolar, Punya Kotyan, and Gopal Moolya. The music is by Sreeshasth, with cinematography by Lamarinz Nirmal and editing by Anil D and Mavin Joel Pinto. Shot across the earthy, verdant stretches of Karkala, the film carries a visual palette that mirrors its themes.
For Anil, one reassurance arrived quietly but firmly. “The Karanth Trust watched the film and blessed us. That was a sign that we had honoured the spirit of Chomana Dudi.”