Suddha

Suddha also called "The Cleansing Rites" is an Indian film, the first ever Tulu language film shot on the digital format.

The 105 minutes film was shot in 2004 in a village called Marnad near Mangalore, Karnataka and was released in 2005. The film is an adaptation of the "Tulu Sahitya Academy" award winning tulu play called "Bojja" written by Mumbai-based playwright, Narayana Nandalike. Suddha was produced by three Mumbai Tuluva kannadigas Mohan Marnad, Surendra Kumar and Ramchandra PN. It has been directed by Ramchandra PN, a graduate of the Film and TV Institute of India, Poona. Suddha is his first feature length film.

Precis of plot

Suddha depicts the death of the feudal system that existed among the Tulu speaking community in coastal Karnataka and the impact the land ceiling act, ushered during the sixties and seventies, has had on its social structure. It is the story of modern India - of changing caste equations and a realization of this reality among the land owning class, albeit a bit late. Though the film is set in a remote village near Mangalore, it could well have happened in any other village elsewhere in India.

An ex-landlord family comes to terms with the fact that they are living in their last leg of feudal existence when it cannot perform a last rites in a grand manner in which it was once used to.

International Film Festivals

Suddha has been screened at the following International Film Festivals.

1. The Third Annual 'Bollywood and Beyond' Film festival, Stuttgart, Germany in the 'Cinema of Language' section in 2006

2. The Osian's Cinefan, 8th Festival of Asian Cinema, New Delhi 2006.

3. The Split Film Festival, Split, Croatia, 2006

4. Semi-finalist at the Moondance Film Festival, USA 2006.

5. Austin Asian Film Festival, Austin USA, 2006

6. The Chennai International Film Festival, Chennai, India, 2006

7. Bring Your Own Film Festival, Puri, India 2007 (Inaugural Film)

8. The Buffalo Niagara International Film Festival, 2007

9. Karnataka Mini Digital Film Festival, India, 2007

10. Swansea Bay International Film Festival, UK, 2007

11. Golden Apricot International Film Festival, Armenia 2007

Awards Won

1. Best Film in the Indian Competition Section at the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian Film held at New Delhi, 2006.

2. Best Film at the Karnataka Mini Digital Film Festival, India 2007

Credits

Starring:
*Subash Padiwaal
*Boja Shetty
*Mohandas
*Sharada Devi
*Sujata Mudradi
*Sai Krishna Kudla
*Aasha Marnad etc.

*Original Tulu play: "Bojja" by Narayan Nandalike
*Camera: Sameer Mahajan
*Audigraphy: Santosh Kumar
*Sound Editing: Amrit Pritam, Boby John
*Dialogues: Narayana Nandalike, Mohan Marnad, Surendra Kumar.
*Costumes, Properties, Continuity and Assistance: Sujatha
*Assistants: Ashok, Prakyat, Sunita
*Executive Producer: Surendra Kumar
*Location Manager: Ramesh Shetty
*Produced by: Mohan Marnad, Surendra Kumar, Ramchandra PN
*Production House: Sonk Films
*Screenplay, Editing, Sound Design & Direction: Ramchandra P.N.
*Shooting Format: Mini DV
*Duration: 105 minutes

Tulu Cinema

The first Tulu cinema was released in 1971. Over the past thirty five years around 35 Tulu films have been made. The Tulu Film has no organised industry as such - in the sense that there is no comprehensive production, distribution and exhibition systems as it exists in the film industries of other Indian languages. The risk of making, distributing and exhibiting the film lies solely with the maker himself. The market for a Tulu film consists of only two districts (Dakshina Kannada and Udupi) in Coastal Karnataka, South India.

Digital Feature Film

Presently most independent documentaries in India are shot digitally. Over the years many shor film makers have also sprung up, using the digital medium for their expression. But digital feature films in fiction are far and few in India. The Indian Feature film industry still prefers to shoot films in the celluloid format, although in recent times some films have been exhibited in the digital format. But films shot digitally either do not get a theatrical release (Pankaj Advani's 'Urf Professor') or are converted into celluloid and then released (Ram Madhvani's 'Lets Talk').

Alternative Distribution System

SUDDHA is being digitally screened in various colleges affiliated with the Mangalore University through DVD players and medium sized digital projectors. The Mangalore University caters to the two Tulu language speaking districts of Karnataka, South India.

External links

* [http://www.suddhathecleansingrites.com/ Official Site]
* [http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1063429/ DNA Article]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758438/ IMDb entry]
* [http://www.upperstall.com/suddha.html Making of the Film]
* [http://www.ramchandrapn.blogspot.com Filmmaker Blog]
* [http://www.microfilmmaker.com/critiques/Issue6/suddha.html Microfilmmaker Review]
* [http://www.variety.com/ac2006_article/VR1117947274?nav=news Variety]
* [http://www.cinephilia.net.au/show_movie.php?movieid=3078 Cinephillia Review]
* [http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/04/29/stories/2006042903020300.htm The Hindu Review Bangalore]
* [http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/21/stories/2006072108810200.htm The Hindu Review Delhi]
* [http://www.collectivechaos.org/suddha.html Collective Choas]