A rom-com that explores Alien Hand Syndrome

After two hit Tulu films and featuring in a string of multi-starrers in

Kannada

, Likith Shetty is all set for his solo debut in Sandalwood. And for this, he has chosen a rather unconventional subject — a rom-com, in which the protagonist is a cartoonist who suffers from Alien Hand Syndrome.

Telling us more about

Sankashta Kara Ganapathi

— produced by Faizan Khan under the Dynamite Films banner — the trailer of which was released yesterday, Likith says, “I play Ganapathi, who struggles with pursuing his dream of becoming a famous cartoonist. He lands a job with a newspaper and later even falls in love. An accidental outcome of a surgery that he undergoes is the Alien Hand Syndrome, which is when a person loses control of one of his/her hands. Ganapthi’s life goes haywire after this and the story is about the troubles that he goes through and gets into as a result, all dealt with in a comical way.”

The idea for the story came to Likith three years ago, which he discussed with his friend and associate

Arjun Kumar

S. They worked on the script for two years, during which they had to keep not only the emotions and the story in mind, but also go into the details of what the out-of-control hand would do in each scene. “I have done nursing, so the topic was very interesting for me. Merging the syndrome with a love story and commercial elements was a challenge, which spurred me to take up this film. Alien Hand Syndrome is a rare disorder, so we did a lot of research and watched several documentaries to know how a person with such a syndrome would be. Of course, all that was just a reference; our story is original,” says Arjun, who has directed the film.