Rooted in reality and written with empathy, Jaishankar’s Kannada film ‘Shivamma’ goes international

‘Shivamma’ is set to continue its dream run at the US and Australian film festivals in 2023 before an Indian premiere and theatrical release by 2024

Jaishankar Aryar entered the industry in 2018 with a clean slate. No film school training, no experience working as an assistant, and no in-depth exposure to cinema.  

Four years later, in October 2022, his debut feature film Shivamma had its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival, where it shared the first prize in the New Currents competition category with the Korean film A Wild Roomer. Last month, it also bagged the Young Jury Award at Festival des 3 Continents in France.  

Basking in the praise for Shivamma, the 31-year-old joins the league of young directors in Kannada cinema who are experimenting with formats while bringing more rooted, gritty stories to the screen.  

Jaishankar’s brief body of work – two short films and a feature film – is characterised by the use of untrained actors and a documentary style of filmmaking to tell fictional stories. It is an approach he has adopted more due to his lack of technical know-how, rather than a brazen attempt to establish his own style. 

“It was inevitable. I knew nothing about cinema. The documentary style of filmmaking didn’t require much technical knowledge while allowing me to capture my story as realistically as possible. It was also less distracting for the actors, who could perform without becoming conscious of the camera,” he says. 

Everyday life is a rich source of stories for Jaishankar, who draws his characters from a keen observation of real people. “Non-professional actors are readymade for such roles. If I want someone to play a policeman, I’ll go in search of a real-life cop. But casting is hard and I have had to face a lot of rejections from potential actors,” he explains.

The film bug bit Jaishankar when he moved to Bengaluru from Koppal district to pursue his BE degree. However, it was a two-day workshop by director Pawan Kumar that truly introduced him to the process of filmmaking.