Tulu-Kannada movie “Pingara”, produced by Avinash U Shetty, has won the national award for the Best Tulu film in the 67th National Film Awards for the year 2019.
In an interaction with News Karnataka, producer Avinash Shetty said, “‘Pingara’ is arecanut fronds used in the rituals of daivaradhane. The story of the film is based on how the caste system plays an evil role in the coastal belt, where the daivaradhane (worship of local deities) is more prevalent than that of worship of Gods. The story depicts how the backward castes and the Dalits, inspite of invoking the local deities and getting possessed, are still ill-treated. It shows how three people’s lives from the upper caste, who are found guilty, take a turn after a prediction made by a local deity invoked by a Dalit.”
Expressing his happiness over the success of his debut Tulu film, Pingara Avinash said “It was my dream project to depict the Tulu culture in Cinema. Tulu language and culture are unique in the world. The rituals like daivaradhane, bhootada kola are found only here. The film was made in order to preserve and cultivate Tulu culture, as well as to educate future generations about these rituals.”
The film was shot in Bailuru of Karkala. ‘Pingara’ movie depicts the happenings between the years 1960 and 2019. The movie shows how those indulging in injustice get punished by the Lord. The film provides a glimpse into the life of three generations. The film is shot in the backdrop of ‘bhootaradhane and Tulu culture from coastal Karnataka. The movie revolves around the theme of how nature gives its answers through local deities against the human-created caste system, ego, and injustice.
‘Pingara’ had been selected for the Kannada film competition and Indian film competition sections of the 12th Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) last year. In Tulu movies, the film emerged as the best film. It also won the special Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema (NET PACK) award international judges award (best Asian movie) award, Indian Panorama Award in the international film festival of Chennai, Official entry in the International film festival Jharkhand, and Official entry in the Lift up film festival.
“Pingara” comprises cast of prominent names in the Tulu film industry and theatre artistes such as Neema Ray, Sharan Shetty, Usha Bhandary, Guru Hegde, Sinchan Chandramohan, Sunil Nelligudde, and Prashanth C K.
The movie is written and directed by R Pritam Shetty. The film has cinematography by V Pavan Kumar, screenplay by Ganesh Neerchal and Sheshachal Kulkarni, music composed by Mime Ramdas and Sheena Nadoli, and lyrics by Shashiraj Rao Kavoor and Amruth Someshwar.
