In an age when technology was absent, director SV Rajendra Singh Babu made adventure films. The son of Shankar Singh (a reputed film maker of the 40s) and Kannada actress Prathima Devi, Babu literally grew up on the film sets. He was bold and innovative in trying out new genres, especially children’s films, which are proudly displayed by the Kannada film industry even today. Some of the films in this genre were Nagarahole, featuring Vishnuvardhan, Bharathi and Ambareesh in lead roles along with baby Indira and Master Prasad Tagat; and Simhada Mari Sainya with Arjun Sarja, credited as Master Arjun. This film also had the late Bollywood actor – Amrish Puri – in the role of a smuggler.
Babu, a gifted craftsman, is known for combining his directorial skills with sophisticated mounting techniques. Along with veteran MP Shankar, he made many films on wild life and the environment too. He also created waves with films such as Bandhana (a love story) and a 70 mm mega-budget film -- Mutthina Harra – shot in the verdant tea estates of Coorg, deserts of Rajasthan and in some of the most inaccessible areas of Kashmir. He made many films with his friends — Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh.
Some of his films were remade in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu and Simhada Mari Sainya was also screened at the International Film festival Corebeil – Essones, France. He then went on to direct Hindi films which include Meri Awaaz Suno, Ek Se Bhale Do and Mera Faisla. Muttina Haara and Bandhana won him the President’s Rajat Kamal Award in the categories of best film and best director. His film Antha, featuring Ambareesh, is seen as one that set a milestone in Ambareesh’s acting career.
As the chairman of the Karataka Chalanachitra Academy, Babu is now exploring various possibilities of taking Kannada films across borders including creating a platform for collaborations between the Australian and the Kannada film industries. He also launched a book Nenapina Mutthinahaara as a tribute to Vishnuvardhan.
The director goes back in time and talks about his debut film Nagarahole and the challenges that went into its making.
“I assisted my father when he made films. After graduation, I worked with him and he trained me in film editing and writing with Ta Ra Su. I also learnt camera work and took care of production too. He would always give me some project to work on. His film set became my school, where I learnt about all the nuts and bolts that go into making a film.
My father mostly made films around folklore or mythology. So I wanted to make a very different kind of film. That was also a time when colour had come. I feel black and white is a challenging medium to make a film in. I still enjoy watching Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt films in black and white. Even Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List fascinated me as it was a black and white film in the techi-colour era. I simply love that medium.
Nagarahole came to be, simply because I enjoyed children’s adventure books and read a lot of Enid Blyton. I thought, why not make a children’s adventure film? I asked my friend and writer — HV Subba Rao — to write a story for me. So both of us went to Nagarahole and camped there for 15 days. We experienced the forest and the life there and got a clue that the naxalites too were active nearby. Then we came up with the story line for Nagarahole.
Ambareesh’s character was built on a real-life driver we met during our stay there. He impressed us so much with his personality that I had to bring him to life on screen. He was rough but had a heart of gold.
Shooting the film was also interesting. There were no graphics those days. So for a scene where a tiger carries a little boy, we had to really do it. It took us two days to get the shot right and the animal would escape into the forest every time. Bringing it back to the set, in itself, was a Herculean task.
We also had an animal supplier, who literally tortured us. He had three wives and insisted on bringing all three of them to the sets. And he would constantly fight with our cook. One day, after a fight, he locked up the cook in the tiger’s cage! So we had some real life adventures too.
Another incident that I can never forget is the shooting of a manchan scene, with 75 retakes. We had no proper crane and it was all done manually. Then we shot a scene where a python falls on baby Indira and the poor child ended up with a fever for a week after that.
The climax sequence was shot on the Sakleshpura Bridge with 13 tunnels. It was risky. We would reach there by 3 am every morning. At 165 ft in height, it was Asia’s highest bridge. When we started blasting the waters, stuff would fall off from above. So we had to do a scene and run out after a while and go back in again as the pressure was dangerous. This was how the climax was shot.
Every day was a task. There were no roads or stay facilities. Had we been careless even for a second, it could have ended in disaster. The film became known for the Nagarhole tribe song “Nagarahole ammale” and the song “Ille swarga, ille Naraka” picturised with Ambareesh, which went on to become huge hits. It was also Ambareesh’s first song in a film. The film, though it started in 1974, was released in 77 as we could not get financers. My friend helped me find financers. It was the first film that was dubbed into four languages – Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Russian. The place Nagarahole also became a tourist spot because of the film.
As told to Shilpa Sebastian R.
This column chronicles filmakers' first efforts