Hemant Hegde forays into horror with Naa Ninna Bidalaare

Actor-director Hemant Hegde is making a transition from comedy to horror with his latest film titled Naa Ninna Bidalaare. The film’s muhurath ceremony recently took place, with NM Suresh, President of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, among the guests.

Hemant Hegde considered the iconic title Naa Ninna Bidalaare (1979), a cult horror film starring Lakshmi and Anant Nag. However, he clarified that his film has no connection with the original except for the title.

While he initially planned to helm a murder mystery titled Network, Hegde switched to horror due to the saturation of murder mysteries on OTT platforms. "It's been a while since a significant Kannada horror film was made," Hegde explains. He further added that Naa Ninna Bidalaare carries the tagline Ghost 2.0. Hemant, who also plays the lead role as a software engineer, has written the screenplay along with Gajendra Gunjur.

Naa Ninna Bidalaare will feature Bhavana Ramanna, a middle-aged woman, in an intense demon role set in the 1980s. "Having grown up in a Brahmin household in Shivamogga, this role is deeply personal to me. Though I've known Hemant for a long time, this is my first opportunity to work under his direction," the actor shares.

Naa Ninna Bidalaare will feature actor Apurva starring opposite Hemant. The film will also star Bollywood actor Makarand Deshpande, Sharath Lohitashwa, Suchendra Prasad, Kishore, and Nassar in pivotal roles. The film is produced by Shasikiran Ranganath, Kiran Nagaraj, and Balakrishna Perumbala under Anvita Arts. The technical crew of Naa Ninna Bidalaare comprises music composer Vasuki Vaibhav and cinematographer Krishna Bhanjan.