Art group’s movie on blind belief raises questions

MYSURU: While there is a debate still going on between political parties, whether or not to implement the anti-superstition bill in the state, an art group from Mysuru has made a movie based on superstition beliefs practiced in villages. The team of 20 from Mysuru has made a Kannada movie, titled ‘Moodayana’ (a story of superstition) directed by DA Upadhya. The two-hour movie which was produced by Bhoomika Arts, Mysuru, has theatre artists like Mandya Ramesh, junior Narasimharaju, Bhavyashri Rai, Master Manu and N Srinivas in lead roles. The movie, with its main character Ramu, a 13-year-old student (played by Master Manu) inspired by his teacher (Mandya Ramesh) raises questions about the superstitious beliefs practiced in his village. The two-hour movie depicts the struggle which Ramu goes through while trying to educate villagers regarding evil practices and how he finally achieves success in his mission and how the village is declared a model village free from evil practices. “It is very difficult to differentiate superstitious beliefs from those which are not. We had to research the subject by visiting various villages before we started scripting the story. We introduced two strong characters, Ramu and the school teacher, who create awareness and change the mindset of villagers entangled in superstitions,” said film director Upadhya.Upadhya, who earlier served as dean of Chamarajendra Government Academy of Visual Arts (CAVA) also penned ‘Bala Arbudha’ a decade ago, on superstitious beliefs in the state. Theatreperson N Srinivas, who had acted as villain ‘Mayavi’ in the movie, said naming superstitions beliefs is difficult. “It is the younger generation which is raising its voice against such superstitions. They think rationally and question blind beliefs. This has been portrayed in the movie where a young school student raises his voice against such beliefs. We want the youth to be like Ramu,” he said. The entire film was shot in Addigeri village in Gadag district. The team is busy with dubbing and the movie is expected to be released by December.Upadhya said the state government had taken up an initiative to bring in the anti-superstition bill. “After production of the movie is complete, we will approach the state government to screen our movie in all villages,” he said.