Naveen Medaram’s debut directorial Babu Baga Busy might have tanked but he is still high on confidence and is sure he will strike it big this time, with Ride By. His first film was a remake of the Hindi adult comedy Hunterrr which left some sections of the audience uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, Naveen has been consistently working on his scripts. “I’ve been writing quite a lot. I am working on a story that I plan to make with Raj Tarun, but that will take some time. Meanwhile there is an English film titled Ride By coming up, I wrote for that. This release will show people that I am much more than Babu Baga Busy. It is a true story about a five-year-old Sri Lankan girl Thusha Kamaleswaran who was critically injured in a gang crossfire in London in 2011.”

Naveen was living in London at that time. He shares more info on Thusha, “She’s the daughter of Sri Lankan refugees settled in London. In 2011, while playing in her uncle’s shop, a group of gangsters who had got into fight nearby, entered and opened fire inside the store. One bullet hit Thusha; pierced her heart and went into her spine. It was a big story then. After six months we all came to know that she was paralysed and couldn’t walk.”

All of London had helped raise funds for Thusha’s treatment. He too wanted to contribute . He says, “That’s when I decided to make a film on the incident. I met her parents and the agent and wrote a story. I got in touch with all the people connected with her, did research and wrapped up the story in six months. I wrote it in a three people perspective — the girl, gangster and the one who escaped.”

He was supposed to direct Ride By but gave his screenplay and story to his friend to direct as he got busy with Babu Baga Busy in India. The film has been titled Ride By because the gangsters were chased by people on cycles, shares Naveen. It is a touching story of a family that escaped the Tamil Tigers and came to the UK where they have been working in a grocery store. After Thusha’s experience, the UK government came down heavily on the gang culture. The family meanwhile, hopes that with the progress in her recovery, Thusha will walk again.