When Bengalureans painted the 'Kote' red

Bengaluru: Friday night was a special one for Bengaluru. As the city slept, a large group of people dressed in red, carrying flashlights, made their way to the Bengaluru Fort. The rules were simple. 'Come dressed in red or wearing a piece of red. If you have red paint or red rope at hand, bring this too.'

Together, they painted the Kote red with musicians and artists in tow. The event was organised by the bangaloResidency of the Goethe Institute and is part of a much larger project. Gerhard and Miriam, both documentary filmmakers from Germany, wanted to make a film on urban development.

"Benglauru was our choice because it is known as the IT hub and we wanted to understand how young people see their city. It's a great example of urban development." Neither Gerhard nor Miriam has visited India before, so the trip was a revelation in more ways than one.  

"When we got here, we understood Bengaluru's rich heritage and culture. There are so many faces to the city and that's what we're trying to bring out with our film," said Gerhard. "We learned about the history of the city, we even met a man who has thousands of books in his home. These are sides of the city that people rarely see."  

Let's paint the KOTE red was driven by theatre veteran Prakash Belawadi and architect Naresh Narasimhan. "The phrase itself means a celebration and that's what we wanted to," explained Gerhard. "We wanted to celebrate Bengaluru's history."