Get spooked by a comedy
Police officer-turned-actor-turned-politician B C Patil is back to the silver screen after a hiatus of four years. A seasoned politician Patil had this to say: “It was not as though I had stayed away from cinema. I was busy concentrating on developmental works in my constituency. After all, retaining public loyalty matters. Also, where were the good stories? I had to spend more than 18 months in search of a good story.”
And now, his brother Ashok Patil is ready with a ‘good’ story and is back from the US. “Actually, there are three stories and Ashok will be directing this one. I was impressed by the characterisation and will do one of the roles.” The film is called ‘I Love You’ and is a supernatural comedy as Ashok prefers to call it. “People here in India have negative mindset with the word horror. So I was forced to call this film a supernatural comedy. It is a silent film.” But this ‘silent’ film has one dialogue, ‘I love you’ repeated throughout the film! And Patil Junior says it is inspired by Pushpaka Vimana by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao. “Nowadays, films like Mungaru Male and Duniya brought about a revolution of sorts in the industry; the whole of India is watching Gandhinagar for path-breaking trends. We are making waves at the global level too. If this film succeeds here, I intend to market it to a global audience.”
The story of a group of travelling comedians and their encounter with a ‘ghost’ will in all likelihood feature names like Konkona Sen Sharma, Akshaye Khanna, Irfan Khan and Vivek Oberoi!
“Nothing is finalised yet but I intend to bring in new, unconventional faces to the Kannada audience. They have so far seen their favourite stars displaying their repertoire of mannerisms; they will be exposed to a new set of experiences with my film.”
Ashok Patil’s ambition is not limited to bringing in actors with pan-Indian presence. “A silent film has to have a background score that has tremendous impact. And I have approached Mano Murthy to provide the same.” And as it is a ‘supernatural’ film, it also requires the services of an exceptional cinematographer and Ashok has his sights set on Ratnavelu who needs no introduction. Naturally, the budget will be big. “Yes, the budget will be close to Rs 10 crores. But, when you want the best, you have to be prepared to spend as well.” And yes, Ashok will be making use of Charlie Chaplin’s physical comedy as well! The film will be shot in Karwar and other coastal areas for 45 days, but wait. It won’t be mounting the sets anytime soon. “Everything is in the initial stage. We hope to start in three months,” said Patil Senior. Let’s hope this period will help Patil Junior to realise his ambition and bring the Kannada audience something ‘different’ for a change!

More laughter
Seems like Jaggesh is trying to get back all that he was owed by a ‘cruel’ industry that had denied him recognition among other things. And the route he has chosen is a bit tricky.
While most of the industrywallahs are professing to make swamakes, he has chosen to be ‘inspired’ by other language films, particularly those of Dileep.
After Manmatha, a remake of Dileep’s Kunjikkkoonan, Jaggesh has now set his eyes on CID Moosa, another laugh riot. Except that the film will be called CID Eesha which stands for Eeranahalli Shankregowda!
And Manmatha director Rajesh Fernandes will be directing CID Eesha.