Pushpaka Vimana (2017 film)

Pushpaka Vimana is a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film directed by S. Ravindranath, making his debut.^[1] The film stars Ramesh Aravind, acting in his 100th Kannada film, as the protagonist playing the father role.^[2] Rachita Ram and Baby Yuvina Parthavi play the daughters role. Prominent Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla is seen in a song sequence, marking her re-entry to Kannada films after 18 years.^[3] The film's title is borrowed from the 1987 silent film of the same name which starred Kamal Haasan and Amala in the lead roles, directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao.^[4]

The film is a joint venture between Vikhyath Chitra Productions and Pawan Wadeyar Film Factory. The film's score and soundtrack is byCharan Raj whilst the cinematography is by Bhuvan Gowda. The film's teaser clocking 2minutes 37seconds and portraying the love and affection between the father and the daughter garnered much praise for Ramesh's expressive act and Bhuvan's cinematography.^[5]

The film was reported to be in sent for contention for Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars, though it did not enter the long-list and short-list. ^[6][7]The film has adapted the screenplay of the 2013 South Korean movie Miracle in Cell No. 7.^[8][9][10]

Cast

• Ramesh Aravind as Anantaramaiah
• Baby Yuvina Parthavi as young Puttalakshmi
• Rachita Ram as a grown-up Puttalakshmi
• Juhi Chawla appearing in song, "Jhilka Jhilka"
• Ravi Kale
• Mandeep Roy
• Rockline Sudhakar
• Manjunath
• K. S. Sridhar

Production

Development

Early reports of the film emerged in December 2015 that actor Ramesh Aravind would feature in a new film which has the title of the 1987 silent film Pushpaka Vimana.^[11] Initially apprehensive about using the same title, the team later decided to go ahead with the same as the story would connect to the title. Ramesh's role was revealed to be that of a father to a little girl and is "crazy about planes". The producers chose S. Ravindranath to helm the director role, making his debut in the feature film.

Casting

After roping in Ramesh for the lead role, producers went in search for a baby girl who could play the daughter character to Ramesh. They finally selected Yuvina Parthavi after being impressed with her performance in the Tamil film Veeram (2015). Actress Rachita Ram was selected to play the role of grown-up daughter, the producers of the movie were claiming that even though the role of Rachita Ram is not full-fledged, it would be a prominent character which would last for about 10minutes.^[12] After launching the teaser, on 15 January 2016, the makers approached Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla to act in a few scenes including appearing in a special song in the film.^[13] This film would be Juhi's re-entry to Kannada cinema since her last release Shanti Kranti in 1991.

Teaser release

On 15 January 2016, a teaser was released which saw the 2minutes 37seconds of video showing the emotional attachment between the father played by Ramesh and his daughter played by Yuvina.^[14] Upon the release of teaser, huge appreciations poured in from different quarters particularly pointing out Ramesh's acting along with Bhuvan's cinematography. The teaser was shown to Juhi Chawla before signing her into the film.

Music

The music and background score for the film is composed by Charan Raj. The soundtrack album contains six songs.

Critical reception

The film has received mixed reviews from critics. The Times of India rated the film 4 out of 5 and commented, "The film scores high technically. Bhuvan Gowda's fantastic visuals are complemented beautifully by Charan Raj's soulful background score. There story is no edge-of-the-seat thriller but instead is a wonderful tale of love between a father and daughter, which unfolds in its own pace but keeps you hooked to the screen."^[15] Deccan Chronicle saw the film worthy of 3.5/5 and reviewed and called the film to be "flying high on emotion".^[16]

Writing to The Hindu, Archana Nathan was critical about the film and called it "A turbulent flight" further remarking that "it relies heavily on dialogue focussing more on telling rather than showing, at times even screaming the sentiment at its audience".^[17]

Copyright infringement

Korea based Kross Pictures filed a copyright infringement case against the makers of the film citing proper remake rights have not been acquired from the production company which holds the rights of the film Miracle in Cell No. 7. However, the director, S. Ravindranath claimed that the film is not a 'remake' but is taken inspiration from four films such as Life is Beautiful, I am Sam, Miracle in Cell No. 7 and Pursuit of Happiness.^[18][19]

References

External links

• Pushpaka Vimana on IMDb