Marali Mareyagi...from Savaari is among the best melodies that people of Karanataka have heard in recent times.
Not only did this song catapult lyricist Sudhir Attavar as one of the most sought after song writers, but also presented him with an offer to direct. And sure enough Sudhir grabbed the opportunity and thus Pari happened.
Pari is based on the award winning book Bharadwaaja written by Sampanna Mutalik, who works in the US.
"He was my senior in engineering college," says Sudhir. "Another specialty of the film is that it is being produced by my classmates from BDT Engineering College, Davangere," he adds.
"When they heard my song Marali Mareyagi..., they were impressed. They also knew how passionate I was about films. So once they heard that I was in the film industry, they got in touch with me. We were establishing contact after 18 years. Anyway, they said that they would wish to invest in a film if I was interested to direct. I told them that I did not want to direct remakes. But they suggested that I consider Bharadwaaja written by one of our seniors and the rest is history," Sudhir
Even the heroines are engineering students, says the director. The film will see a girl leading the mafia. Her love life will also be the subject matter of Pari. "Pari has different meanings. It could mean a way of life or continuation. So we have always told how pure love is long lasting," adds the director.
The film stars Satya, Harshika Poonacha, Avinash of Jugaari fame, Rakesh of Josh fame, Amit and Nagkiran in the lead. Smitha, who had migrated to the Tamil industry is making a comeback to Kannada films with Pari. She plays a Lambani in the film. Satya of Aa Dinagalu and Slum Bala fame also plays a youth from the Lambani community. "Sudhir had assisted M S Sathyu in Ijjodu and had seen my performance in that film. So he approached me for this film and I am grateful to him for this," says Satya.
Sudhir's mentor M S Sathyu is the art director of the film. Ananth Urs has handled the camera while Nimay Gosh is the still photographer. Music is by Veer Samarth. Usha Uthup, Kailash Kher, Sadana Saergam and Hariharan have sung the songs. Voices of Lambani singers Hira and Kali Bai have also been used. The music launch and premiere show of the film will be held in America.
