Allama is a three-year labour of love for director Nagabharana

National Award-winner, director

TS Nagabharana

is all set to take cinegoers back in time to the age of the 12th century poet saint,

Allama Prabhu

, in Allama, a film produced by Yajamana Enterprises. The movie has taken three years to make and is ready to hit theatres this Republic Day (Thursday). Speaking about the journey, the director told BT, 'Figuring out the story structure was hard to do. If you look at history, there isn't proper information about Allama's birth place or his place of residence. He is known for his

vachanas

' 13 of them ' so we decided to structure the story around them. Even the dialogues are tailored around the vachanas. The film required a lot of research; it took me one year to do the research, one year to write it and one year to make it.

Dhananjaya plays Allama, Meghana Raj plays Maya and Sanchari Vijay is

Basavanna

, and Nagabharana says that their acting is such that no one else could have performed the parts better. 'I am very happy with the way the film has taken shape. The entire team has contributed so much, from the actors to the costume designer (Naginibharani), art director (Shashidhar Adapa), cameraman (GS Bhaskar), music director (Bapu Padmanabha) and editor (

BS Kemparaj

). They have all done a fantastic job,' says the director.