Thota' full in its essence

A prominent personality on Kannada television and film, his tele-serials like Sankalana, Mayamruga, Manvantara, Mukta Mukta series and Maha Parva are considered to be among the best. A truly versatile actor, director, producer, TN Seetharam is back in an updated avatar for his film — Kaafi Thota, which is set for release this Friday. The veteran, who is also one of the judges alongwith senior actress Lakshmi and actor Vijay Raghavendra in the reality show Drama Juniors talks about his crime thriller, which is essentially the brewing of a crime thriller in the beautiful coffee estates in Chikmagalur and surroundings.

His last film Meera, Madhava, Raghava' released a decade ago featuring actor-turned politician Ramya, and prior to that, his critically acclaimed film Matadana based on a novel by writer SL Bhyrappa, won the national award for the best regional film in the 47th National Film Awards. While Matadana talked about politics, Meera, Madhava, Raghava was a tale about personal relationships, and now TNS emphasises on his other favourite subject — crime and adjudication in Kaafi Thota.

“With a lot of experimental films like Thithi, U-Turn, Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu, Ondu Motteya Kathe, etc receiving appreciation from the audience, the audience has shown faith in good content. That was what made me interested, though I did not have a huge budget and invited interested people to be an part of it. I posted a message on my Facebook page about producing a film on limited liability partnership (LLP). The response was tremendous but eventually, 29 were finalised and we produced it,” says TN Seetharam, who adds that with the update in technology, he too has returned with an updated approach towards film making, which has been a great learning experience.

The film stars Raghu Mukherjee, Radhika Chetan of the U Turn fame, Rahul Nataraj, senior actress Ambika, Sundaraj, Dance Juniors talent Amogha, and others. “Of the three favourite subjects of mine, it was crime and adjudication which was pending and I webbed a story around it picturised in the beautiful location of Chikmagalur and its surrounding and some portions in Bengaluru. Ashok Kashyap has done a tremendous job, and it is evident that our work has been noticed by the audience with 23 lakh who have watched our trailer, and songs scored by Anoop Seelin and a number by Mithun Mukund, released through various social media. The word coffee naturally reminds people about the morning freshness with a sip of hot coffee but when it’s dark, the same thota (estate) has a different visualisation,” Seetharam adds.

Senior actress Julie Lakshmi was supposed to be a part of the venture but due to her ill health on the date of the shoot, another senior actress Ambika joined the crew. Before signing off, TNS, as he is fondly known as shares that being a part of Drama Juniors as one of the judges has been another refreshing journey in his life.