Kenja Chethan Kumar on ‘Chow Chow Bath’: It is a hyperlink film

Kenja Chethan Kumar on his Kannada film ‘Chow Chow Bath’: It is a hyperlink film

Cinema comes in all shapes, forms and genres. Ditto for Kannada cinema, which in the past decade has pushed the envelop in new and exciting ways. And while anthologies, might be old hat, what about hyperlink cinema? Kenja Chethan Kumar’s defines his latest film, Chow Chow Bath, as a hyperlink film.

Antholgies, Chethan says are a collection of unconnected stories put together as a collection of films. “In a hyperlink, you have parallel tracks going on concurrently on screen, which converge as the film progresses,” Chethan says at the screening of his film at the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes 2024). “This format has not been explored in Kannada cinema and we are thrilled to see the audience’ reaction.”  

Chow Chow Bath, features actors including Aruna Balraj, Sagar Gowda, Sushmitha Bhat, Dhanush S Baikampady and Sankalp Sharma, was nominated in the Kannada Cinema Competition category. “We are thrilled being able to screen the film at this festival. We saw huge footfalls and hope to see the same when the film releases commercially on March 15.”

The title of the film, Chethan says is inspired by the famous dishes of Karnataka, khara bath and kesari bath. “They are opposites in flavour and texture and yet are served on one plate as that is how people like it. The title represents the same aspect of our film. The convergence of three parallel tracks in one frame. It’s also a romantic comedy. There are six major characters and you feel that their stories are independent of each other, till you hit the pre-climax.”

The film is written, directed and edited by Chethan, who hails from Mangaluru from a place called Kenja, which he also uses as a prefix to his name. He comes from an agricultural background. “Though I never met my grandfather, Kemthur Doddanna Shetty, as he had passed away before I was born. I heard interesting tales of his tryst with theatre in our village. He was a playwright, actor, singer and a director who wrote plays in Tulu and one of his plays is believed to be staged 6,666 times in and around Mangaluru. It was this history that got me hooked to theatre initially, but I also wanted to branch out to cinema.”

Chethan says that he could not afford to train himself with a professional filmmaking course and was keen on working as a film editor. “While researching on the topic of film editors and directors, I discovered that Rajkumar Hirani is an editor turned director. I started reading more about him, his works, his films and he became my hero and inspiration.”

Chethan decided that he would also work as a film editor, equip himself with the skills required and then direct a film. “Later I learned that Subash Ghai and Sirish Kunder are also film editors turned directors, and I knew I could also achieve my dream if I could land a job as a film editor anywhere. That is when I started working with the late Gopi Prabhu, who became my mentor and guide. After which, I branched out to work with Asianet Suvarna, TV9 Kannada, Star India Pvt Ltd”.