Konkani-Tulu film deepens language bond

MANGALURU: What happens when Tulu meets Konkani? A bilingual film.

Ashem Zalem Kashem

, a film made under the banner of Glorius Angelore and set to release in two weeks, has a good mix of actors from Tulu and Konkani industries. The speakers of these languages are expected to patronize the bilingual in a big way.

Confident that his first movie will strike a chord with the audience, film producer and story writer Maxim Pereira told TOI the film will release on April 21. He said: “I speak Konkani at home, but Tulu is the language we friends speak after Sunday mass and even among my other Konkani-speaking friends, relatives and well-wishers.”

Registered as a Konkani film with the Central Board of Film Certification, the film has support from Tulu actors Bhojaraj Vamanjoor and Arvind Bolar. This has heightened the “linguistic beauty” of the film, Maxim added.

The language mix is evenly spread. The film has actor Rupesh Shetty in the lead, and Sinol Menezes, Ranjitha Lewis (of Noshibacho Khell fame), Jennifer D’Souza, Rohan D’Souza, Nikith Kottary and Jeevan D’Souza in other roles.

Maxim explained the two-language approach to the film, saying Tulu-speaking viewers who don’t know Konkani trooped into theatres to watch Konkani films. “During my enquiries, non-Konkani friends said they understand the overall story and a fair bit of the language as well. This buoyed me to make this film,” he said.

Similarly, Konkani-speaking viewers have contributed to the good run of Tulu films, he added.

The linguistic harmony extends beyond the screen. Maxim’s production team, too, has a good sprinkling from both languages. The team of Vincent D’Souza and

Joe M Pereira

has Kishore Moodbidri, Satvik Hebbar and Sandeep Chawta as associate director and assistant directors, respectively.

Playwright William Pinto Padarengi has aided the Tulu comedy script, screenplay and dialogues.