Varnapatala’ (Spectrum), touted as the first Kannada flick that deals completely with children suffering from autism spectrum disorder, is set to hit the screen on April 8. The World Autism Acceptance Day is celebrated on April 2 every year.
Though ‘Sachin! Tendulkar Alla’ (2014) partially dealt with autism, it did not focus completely on the Autism Spectrum Disorder. National Award-winning director Chethan Mundadi has helmed the project produced by Dr Saraswathi Hosadurga and Kavitha Santosh.
Dr Saraswathi is a consultant community paediatrician based in the UK while Kavitha Santosh is a Bengaluru-based entrepreneur. “We want to create awareness about this condition through our film,” Dr Saraswathi told Showtime.
She moved to the UK 25 years ago. She witnessed huge differences between India and the UK with regards to the support system for children with autism and that propelled her to plan a film on the subject.
Filmmaking was unknown to Kavitha and Saraswathi when they decided to embark on the project. “More than the commercial aspects, we focused on building a strong narrative,” Saraswathi added.
Actor Jyothi Rai is one of the major highlights in the flick. She plays a mother whose daughter suffers from Autism. In real life, Rai’s son suffers from autism.
“Till we finalised her for the role, we didn’t know that her son had the disorder. She has done justice to the role,” Saraswathi said
Life incidents witnessed by Dr Saraswathi in the last two decades have been woven into the plot.
Mundadi says, “I wanted to make a film that haunts people. It conveys the message strongly to the society that our attitude towards children suffering from autism should change.”