Actors lived the characters in Edegarike: Sumana Kittur

Journalist and writer Agni Shridhar's Aa Dinagalu was probably the first Kannada movie in the last decade that broke the traditional rules of action films. The movie showed the industry that a film could be made without regular masala elements sans the glorification of violence. Sumana Kittur, a protegee of Agni Shridhar, continued the trend in the films like Slum Bala.

Well, Sumana Kittur and Agni Shridhar are back with Edegarike. The film is the screen-adaptation of the book of the same name written by the journalist himself. Now, the young director has spoken about her prestigious project in an interview with Oneindia. Here are the excerpts from the interview.

Tell us about Edegarike.
Edegarike is based on real-life incidents that occurred in 90s. There is a notion in people that underworld is all about the blood and gore but we never realise that dons are also human beings and they too have emotions just like us. My film touches that part and shows their rich feelings.

Considering your earlier films, one thing that we make out is that you are passionate about realistic subjects.
I am basically a journalist and there is always a kind of love towards realism. I believe realistic subjects are close to people's heart. Moreover, we can learn many things from these characters, and those portrayals give an insight into the lives of underworld personalities. This part excites me to choose stories that are believable.

Your movies are not formulaic even though you make action films.
We often tend to believe that audience like only violence and fights in action films, and movies without masala ingredients won't work at the Box Office. But Aa Dinagalu proved it wrong and people gave thumbs up for its content. Killing can be shown without glorifying barbarity. Many producers go with the tried and tested methods because they fear the loosing the invested money. However, in case of Agni Shridhar, who believes that films will have impact on the society, it is not all about money.

Working with Aditya and Atul Kulkarni...
Atul Kulkarni is a good friend now, and as we all know, he is a fantastic actor. This is my first film with Aditya. Many asked me if I chose Adi after watching his performance in Deadly Soma. But till now I have not seen the complete film and have seen in bits and pieces. The reason why I did not see is because I did not want to get influenced from his character. However, his height and eyes came as plus points for me to sign him. He is brilliant in his role. He speaks in his eyes in many scenes. Overall, no actors has acted in Edegarike but lived the characters.

Your movie is clashing with Yogaraj Bhat's Drama. Do you believe that the clash will affect both the films?
I am not going to talk from the business angle, and I wish that both the films does well. I told the same when Bhat sent me a text. Adding to that Yash stars in Drama. He had earlier worked with our team in Kallara Santhe, which brought him a good name, and he shares a good friendship with us. Even he has asked him to watch the film. So, there is a healthy competition between us and we respect each others' films.

Which are your future projects? We heard that you will be helming the sequel to Aa Dinagalu...
There has been talks about Aa Dinagalu sequel but nothing has been finalised. Currently, I am working on three-four scripts and it is only after the release of Edegarike, I will be in a stage to talk about my next films.