When Sampath Nandi auditioned 700 girls for Seetimaarr

Director Sampath Nandi says shooting for his film, Seetimaarr, which is about a kabaddi team winning for a cause in a village, was a satisfying experience.
“Kabaddi is a mass game and I grew up playing and watching the sport in my village (Odela). I always wanted to make a film with this backdrop. After I watched the Pro kabaddi league, I decided to make the film,” reveals the director.

However, he says he had to spend considerable time to get the casting right. He had to audition around 700 girls before he could select two kabaddi teams of 24 players. He finally decided to rope in National kabaddi players and work with them.

“I have hired four national players, and trained them in acting. And it was with great difficulty that I finally managed to select the rest of the players,” he says, adding, “We all underwent training for three months on the basics of the sport, the rules, techniques, and strategies.” A National kabaddi coach trained the entire cast.

The director stresses that the sport is only one element in the film, it’s the emotion that drives the story. “Some episodes were so intense that we ended up playing the sport seriously,” he shares. Sampath Nani says he has evolved as a director during his journey of more than a decade. And at a time when OTT is superseding theatre releases, he comments that filmmaking has become challenging.

“Earlier, films used to compete only with others in other theatres. Now, times have changed and audiences are watching world cinema, so if they are watching a film on OTT, the content has to be unique, else, they will skip it,” he notes, but adds that recently released films on OTT platforms lack recall value. “The theatre gives you a larger-than-life experience, but watching at home means it is even more difficult to impress the audience,” he explains.