When the fire within burns

The makers of the critically acclaimed film, Gantumoote, join hands for their second venture, Kenda

Sahadev Kelvadi, who co-produced the critically acclaimed 2019 film, Gantumoote, is making his debut as a director with Kenda. Written and directed by Sahadev Kenda, meaning burning coal, is produced by Roopa Rao, the director of Gantumoote. Sahadev also dons the role of a cinematographer for Kenda.

The 35-year-old director, who speaks to us from his studio in JP Nagar, says the film is a socio-political satire on disorganised crime. “It follows the journey of a group of unemployed youth, who have no goals and how they are pulled into a whirlpool of crime. The film explores the triumphs and lows of the protagonist, who works in a factory and eventually ends up on the wrong side of the law.”

The film, Sahadev says, is also a character study in a politically-charged environment of friendships and betrayals.” Talking of the title of the film, Sahadev  says, “Everyone has some burning issue deep within themselves. All it takes is a slight kindling and chances are it will explode. Hence we chose the title Kenda, which symbolises the burning coals beneath the ash.”

Kenda is his second venture in films. “Before my foray into films, like any good South Indian boy, I studied engineering.” Once he completed his studies, he went to NYU Tisch School of Arts to study film making. “It was there that I made a short film with a similar story and title as Kenda. We can say Kenda is inspired from my thesis script during my university days in New York,” says Sahadev who lived in the US from 2007 to 2017. He worked as an interim professor at the same university where he was studying, teaching cinematography. “I decided to return to India and teamed up with my friend, Roopa Rao to make Gantumoote.”

Sahadev was the cinematographer for this film, which was produced under the banner of his and Roopa’s company — Ameyukti Studios. Kenda will also be released under the same banner, confirms the director, who says they started a production house to make films they wanted to make.

Kenda, which will be released after Republic Day, is in the post-production stage. The challenges, as a writer, director, cinematographer, Sahadev says, have been positive, ones. The entire cast and crew are newcomers. Ritwik Kaikini, son of author and lyricist Jayant Kaikini, makes his debut as a music composer with Kenda. Despite the title, Sahadev says Kenda is not a violent film.

“How a film is made or action depicted on screen rests solely with the director. Films are normally made keeping in mind what the audience wants. I speak for myself when I say machismo and violence needs to be spoken about on screen. The audio-visual medium is so powerful that certain things shown on screen can have an impact on the viewer. It depends on how the writer/director visualises and puts it across cinematically.”