Debutant director Mahesh Gowda decodes his film Mahira

For a debutant director, Mahesh Gowda is rather chirpy just days ahead of the release of his first film. This extra boost of confidence, he says, comes from the fact that his film —

Mahira

— had a successful premiere in London. As a story teller, Mahesh considers it his first validation, as he got movie-goers to come out on a Sunday morning to watch his film, which has a bunch of newbies on the star cast. His next big test is on Friday, when Mahira hits theatres here.
“Normally, when you have a film with a female protagonist that revolves around a

mother-daughter relationship

, audiences connect it with a story of domestic or physical abuse, human trafficking, etc. Despite being an action-thriller, Mahira does not step into that territory and tells the story of a middle-aged mother of a 16-17-year-old daughter, who is also an undercover agent. The story, which unfolds over three days, picks an incident and how it affects them,” explains Mahesh.
Choosing

Virginia Rodriguez

as the lead was driven by the content, says the filmmaker. “She was trained for three months before we cast her. There are five tactical combats in the film, all of which she has done. We wanted to realistically capture what an older woman can do. Mahira may be based on a fictional script, but it comes as close to reality with its presentation,” Mahesh sums up.