Techie dumps job to make Kannada flick

Even when Anup Bhandari was busy cracking software codes on his computer screen at his New York office, his mind was on the magic called silver screen. Soon he listened to his heart, quit the job, and took plunge into the s h o w b i z . N o w, t h e 32-year-old is gearing up to release his debut film Rangitaranga, which he has written and directed.“Right from the early days, I have been passionate about film-making, but I concentrated more on it once I moved to the US. In the first year alone, I saw about 600700 movies across all genres, changing my perspective totally about films. I started writing scripts and songs. I got an opportunity to direct a short film for my company as part of the corporate social responsibility initiative. From 2005, I slowly started making short films to get a feel of the whole film-making experience. I made about five films and the last short film (of 15-minute duration) Words was critically acclaimed and screened in several film festivals,“ he says.
Words, starring Hollywood actor Russel Harvard, delved into the world of the hearing impaired. The film's shooting took place in New York's Central Park for over five days. The film won the best short film award in 2012 at the Toronto Festival, according to Anup. He says he always wanted to make a feature film in Kannada. “My dream has been to venture into Kannada industry and producer H K Prasad, who was impressed by Words, was am ong t he f irs t t o approach me. He saw my script and songs and we went on to work on the movie Rangitaranga,“ says the engineer-turnedfilm-maker.
The flick's first song Akkapakka was released on Friday on Youtube.The movie, he says, is a 'mystery thriller'.