College Kumar exhorts parents to stop forcing their aspirations on their children: Santhu

There are two things that director Santhu had on his mind while making his latest,

College Kumar

, which hits theatres today. “The trend in the industry has been that multiplex audiences prefer content-oriented films, while those in the smaller centres and single-screen theatres like larger-than-life massy commercial flicks. I was clear that I wanted to cater to both sets of audiences and, hence, I have attempted to strike middle ground with College Kumar, giving elements that will appeal to all audiences. The film is high on content, yet it is fun and entertaining, with an ample dose of emotion as well,” he says.
The film, produced by L Padmanabha for MR Pictures, has Vikky Varun, Samyuktha Hegde,

P Ravi Shankar

and Shruthi in lead roles and has a message for youngsters as well as for parents. “A majority of college students spend years on campus without a clear idea about how their life will turn out. Even if you are a backbencher and fail to strike out initially, you can still turn things around and succeed in life. We have also looked at the attitude of aspirational parents who decide the future of their children as soon as they are born. So, even if a child is disinclined, he/she is forced to pursue medicine, engineering or other course that the parents deem fit. This is not right. Every individual should be allowed to chart their own path. At no point, though, have we been preachy and all our messages are conveyed in a fun manner,” says Santhu, adding that unlike other films, College Kumar does not have a villain. “There are no action sequences, yet enough drama is generated with the conversational fights in the film,” he says.

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