Mangaluru: The Tulu movie “Girgit”, directed by Roopesh Shetty and Rakesh Kadri, was in the news a lot for its success at the box office. It is once again making headlines, this time for being screened for children for free!
This is the first time that a Tulu movie is being screened for school children for free. Another movie, ‘Baravuda Bandasale’ was screened for school children for free, however, it was a telefilm.
“Girgit” will be screened at the Jyothi Theatre in Mangaluru and Kalpana theatre in Udupi for primary and high school students on November 14 and 15. This offer has been announced by the film team on the occasion of Children’s Day. The film team came up with this offer with the intention of promoting the Tulu language and inspiring the students through the movie.
There will be eight shows each on both days. Students who are studying in SSLC and below can watch the movie for free. However, those who accompany them should buy a ticket to watch the film. Students need not wear their uniform or show an identity card to watch the movie on both the days.
A comedy movie, “Girgit” is produced by Manjunath Attavar. Director and actor Roopesh Shetty and Shilpa Shetty play prominent roles and Roshan Shetty plays the antagonist. The other star actors include Aravind Bolar, Bhojaraj Vamanjoor, Naveen D Padil, Umesh Mijar, Sandeep Shetty.
Speaking to newskarnataka.com Roopesh Shetty said that there is healthy comedy in the movie, something that the children will definitely enjoy. “The Tulu film industry will be prosperous only if the younger generation gets involved and support Tulu movies. Hence, we have decided to screen our film for children on Children’s Day. Parents should allow their children to watch this movie, which will indirectly help promote the Tulu film industry,” he said.
After the success of the film, Roopesh Shetty has received numerous opportunities in the Tulu as well as the Kannada film industry. He says that he is very choosy when it comes to selecting a movie as, to him, quality is very important.
Roopesh, who has been very busy promoting “Girgit’ abroad, said, “Instead of giving importance to the upcoming movies, I am concentrating on ‘Girgit’ so that it reaches across the globe. The movie has been running for more than 85 days already in eight film theatres both in the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. It has also been screened in the USA, Singapore, Australia, England and other countries. I want to screen it in almost all countries where Tulu speaking people reside,” he added.
Bar Association’s objection helped increase hype?
Soon after “Girgit” was released, the advocate fraternity objected to some scenes in which characters representing them were involved. They stated that such scenes hurt their sentiments and they wanted to stop the screening of the movie. A case was even filed in this regard with the district court, however, it was later withdrawn after the producer and director agreed to remove those scenes and mute those dialogues that the Mangaluru Bar Association found objectionable.
However, Roopesh Shetty doesn’t believe that this incident helped the movie in a big way. “Before the objection of the Bar Association, the film was running very well. However, some people might have watched our movie out of curiosity after this incident. I cannot say that the incident alone led to the success of our movie,” he adds.
Gunapala Kanadka, a resident of Konaje told newskarnataka.com that he would be taking his two children to watch “Girgit” on November 14. “Usually, I don’t watch any movies in theatres. However, I was keen on watching the movie after the Bar Association objected to some scenes and mounted pressure to remove them. Before watching this movie, I was prejudiced against Tulu films as I thought they are not as good as Sandalwood and Bollywood movies. However, after I watched ‘Girgit’, my opinion about Tulu movies changed,” he said.
It can be recalled that within a week after its release, “Girgit” grossed over Rs 1 crores at the box office. Though the team has refused to divulge details about the film’s earning, they admitted that the movie succeeded in breaking all previous records regarding collections.
.jpg)
