Ravi Basrur: Girmit is driven by young talents

Ravi Basrur talks about his upcoming project Girmit, and what inspired him to bring together 280 children for this commercial entertainer
Ravi Basrur opens about Girmit
Ravi Basrur opens about Girmit

A series of ads for an e-commerce platform, featuring children talking in adult voices, was the inspiration for music composer and director Ravi Basrur to direct his upcoming film, Girmit. The commercial entertainer, driven by 280 children, will be released in five languages. It is titled Pakka Mass in Hindi and Telugu and Podi Mass in Tamil and Malayalam. 

The makers are also planning to release a dubbed version in English as well. “Besides the ad, I was also inspired by the reality show Drama Juniors, wherein I watched some extraordinary performances from children,” he says.

As suggested by the title, Girmit is a family entertainer, which also has elements of love and comedy. This is the fourth film from Ravi Basrur, who started his career as a director with a Tulu film, Gargar Mandala, and followed it with Bilinder. Kataka was his first Kannada film as a director. The music director has composed the background score for 98 films including KGF: Chapter 1. Girmit, produced by N S Rajkumar, is being distributed by Karthik Gowda under the banner of KRG Studios and will be released this week. It has been made under the banners Omkar Movies and Ravi Basrur Movies.

According to the director, “Cinema is meant to bring the entire family to the theatre. So, I decided to keep them at the forefront of this subject.” 

He adds, "Working with these kids gave me a nostalgic feeling, and reminded me of my school days when I participated in stage shows, which have become a rare thing today,” he says, adding that he learnt a lot from the children while making the movie. “The kind of focus I see in these children makes me feel that they are like mini-versions of the present-day stars.”

While children play a vital role in Girmit, the director has picked lead actors to lend their voice. Viewers will be able to hear Yash, Radhika Pandit, Sudha Belawadi, Rangayana Raghu, Achyuth Kumar, Tara, Petrol Prasanna, Sadhu Kokila, and others in the film. Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar, who is presenting it, has also sung a song.

Though the entertainer features child artistes like Shlagha Saligrama, Ashlesh Raj, Tanisha Koni, and Aradhya Shetty, the subject explores marital problems. “The story may sound very heavy, but every scene has been presented with humour,” says Ravi Basrur, refuting the suspicion that such subjects expose youngsters to situations beyond their comprehension. 

“Children are asked to learn about history, science, etc. But these are also life lessons. I am happy that I could bring out these children from the clutches of mobile phones and television,” says Ravi Basrur, who has also handled the screenplay, music, and sound design, while camerawork is by Sachin Basrur.

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