Ramchandra P. N.

Ramchandra PN
Born 1965
Udupi, Karnataka
Occupation Film director, producer and screenwriter
Spouse(s) Sushma PN
Website sonkfilms.com

Ramchandra P. N. is an award-winning filmmaker making feature films, short films, documentaries and TV programs. in India. He is a Kannadiga and a Tuluva based in Mumbai.

Early days

Ramchandra Perampalli Neckar[1] was born in the town of Udupi in the erstwhile undivided Dakshina Kannada District (now Udupi District) in the coastal area of the state of Karnataka in southern India, in 1965. His father worked in the Life Insurance Corporation of India; his mother was a housewife. Ramchandra PN completed his education in various schools and colleges in Kota, Kundapura, Mumbai, Manipal, Dharwad and Udupi. He is a commerce graduate from Mangalore University.

Early interests

Ramchandra PN's initial foray into the arts got kindled during his college days in Poornaprajna College, Udupi. After unsuccessful attempts at learning disciplines as varied as the guitar, drawing and the traditional performing art of Yakshagana, he got involved in theatre as an actor as well as a back stage worker in various plays directed by Kannada theatre directors from Coastal Karnataka like B. R. Nagesh, Udyavara Madhava Acharya, Ramdas and R. L. Bhat. Meanwhile, he horned his still photography skills, thanks to a Pentax still camera donated to him by his uncle. He then attuned his creative instincts by attending various theatre workshops conducted by renowned Kannada theatre personalities like Chidambar Rao Jambe and Gangadhar Swamy. For a couple of years, he along with his friends led by theatre activist Udyavara Nagesh Kumar founded a mime troupe that performed in various festival celebrations, in and around the town of Udupi.

Interest in films

But Ramchandra PN's real calling was films. He was an active member of the now defunct Chitra Samudaya, a Film society that was active in Udupi whose secretary owned a 16 mm projector. By the time he was in his twenties he had already seen classics like Seventh Seal, Bicycle Thieves, Pather Panchali, Roshomon and Ghatashraddha. At the age of nineteen, he along with his cousin and their friends made a short film called Happy Birthday with a VHS camera loaned by a friend whose father worked in the Middle East. Since they had no editing facilities then, they shot the film in the editing order.

Training in films

Ramchandra PN's growing interests in films took him to Mangalore, Heggodu and Bengaluru where he attended various film appreciation courses conducted by the likes of K. V. Subbanna, Satish Bahadhur, P.K. Nair, Nirad Mahapatra, Hariharan, Girish Kasaravalli and Abdul Rehaman Pasha. Finally, in 1987 dropping out from his Law and Charted Accounting studies, he joined the Film and Television Institute of India, Poona to do a three-year course in Film Direction and Screenplay Writing. His diploma film Gotala was screened in the then Bombay Short and Documentary Film Festival, held in the early 1990s.

Professional life

After graduating from Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Ramchandra PN thought he would settle down in Bengaluru, the capital of his home state Karnataka. Thanks to a cousin, he sneaked into the mainstream Kannada film industry and worked in the Kannada super star Vishnuvardhan's bilingual film called Police Dada; where he was the 8th assistant to the Hindi film directors Ramsay brothers. But after a schedule of filming, Ramchandra PN found out that commercial mainstream cinema was not his cup of tea.

He came to Mumbai in 1991 and got himself involved in the Television serial Surabhi a cultural show that was experimenting with the TV magazine format, produced by anchor Siddharth Kak. Over the next ten years, as a freelancer, he directed more than hundred short documentaries for this cultural show, subjects mainly pertaining to his home state of Karnataka – on Gangubai Hanagal, Mallikarjun Mansur, Shivaram Karanth, B.V. Karanth, Vijaynath Shenoy's Hastha Shilpa, the Hampi Ruins, the Hoysala Temples, Mysore Ganjifa, the professional stage actresses of Mariyammanahalli, cock fights, the Electronic tampura, the Lokur Joint family in North Karnataka, the Coastal Buffalo race of Kambala among others.

Ramchandra PN has been residing in Mumbai since 1990. Over the years he gradually ventured into other TV programs, feature films, documentaries and short films in English, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Kutchhi and Tulu languages.

Turning point

Ten years into doing television, Ramchandra PN found himself in the crossroads of his career for he had not yet made his feature film – the very purpose for which he joined FTII in the first place. Taking advantage of the newly developing digital technology, in the year 2004, with the help of his assistant Surendra Kumar Marnad and friend Mohan Marnad he ventured in producing and directing the first digital feature film in Tulu language called Suddha (The Cleansing Rites). This no-cost film went on to win the Best Indian Film at the 2006 Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab films that was held in New Delhi. In 2007 it won a modest exhibition Grant from the Hubart Balls fund under which Ramchandra PN went around with a mobile projector, a portable screen and a sound system to screen the film in more than 100 places in the remote villages of the Tulu-speaking districts of Coastal Karnataka.

In 2008, he shot his second feature Putaani Party (The Kid Gang) – this time in Kannada language and in the district of Dharwad in North Karnataka. This film was produced by The Children's Film Society of India. This film won the Best Children's film at the 2009 National Film Awards.

Ramchandra PN has completed his third feature Haal E Kangaal, in Hindi language and is screening it in alternative venues all over India. [2]

Besides, he also conducts academic workshops in various film schools in India like the FTII, Poona & L. V. Prasad Film Institute, Chennai.

Awards

On Suddha – The Cleansing Rites

The Bangalore edition of the newspaper 'The Hindu had described the film Suddha – The Cleansing Ritesas follows.

"The allure of the 105-minute Tulu film is mainly due to its impressive technical accomplishments. Camerawork by Sameer Mahajan uses light and shade superbly and captures the mood and feel of the story. The interiors of the typical rural house – with peeling walls and old-world appendages – which stand as mute witness of the breaking family have been shot with care and sensitivity."

(Source: The Hindu)[5]

Filmography

Feature films

Year Title Cast Language
2015 Haal E Kangaal[6] Niraj Sah, Hemant Mahaur Hindi
2009 Putaani Party – The Kid Gang Ranjita Jadhav, Sharad Anchatgiri, Pavan Hanchinaal, Jayalakshmi Patil, Bhavani Prakash Kannada
2005 Suddha – The Cleansing Rites Subhash Padivaal, Sai Prakash, Asha Marnad Tulu

Short fiction

Year Title Cast Language
2015 Tiku Tiku Director (The fragile director) Vidhan Kothari, Satvika Khandgaonkar, Samridh Tandon, Sharman Gupta Hindi
2012 Khana Khazaana (The treasure meal) Resh Lamba, Vikas Shukla, Khusboo Upadhaya, Anurag Hindi
2011 Mister and Mistress Bijaya Jena, Niraj Sah, Seema Bora, Reema Das Hindi
2008 Babe se date (Date with a babe) Kunal Khotari, Sagarika Sawhney, Nikhila Nanduri Hinglish
2006 Mani Bhai Pass Hogaye? (Did brother Mani succeed?) Sudhir Choudhary, Rasika Duggal, Shinjini Raval, Oroshikha Day Hindi
2004 Out of Tune Anil Pande Hinglish
2003 Heart Troubles of Ramchand Yavathmal Tiruchinapalli Azamghar Anil Pande Hinglish
1991 The Hot Shot Vinay Edekar, Manisha Kamath Only music

Documentaries

Year Title Producer Length Language About
2016 The Unbearable Being of Lightness[7] Sonk Films 45 mins English Dalit Issues
2015 Lohit Diary[8] Films Division 75 mins Hindi/English/& 16 other dialects Life in Lohit Valley in Arunachal Pradesh
2013 Gudigeri Company[9] Sonk Films 25 mins Kannada Live in a professional Theater troupe
2012 BV Karanth:Baba[10][11] Films Division 93 mins Hindi/English/Kannada Biography of BV Karanth
2012 Rice and Rasam (Anna Saaru)[12] P.S.B.T.-FD 52 mins Kannada Professional theatre troupes in Karnataka
2012 A Pinch of Salt Films Division 52 mins Gujarati/English Education among the Agaria community children
2011 Miyar House[13] Sonk Films 76 mins Kannada/English dismantling of a century old house
2010 Floating Healers Films Division 52 mins Bengali/English A medical boat in Sundarbans
2009 Nuts and Bolts Sonk Films 29 mins Kannada Governance reach in Rural India
2008 Despite Distortions[14] Sonk Films 4 mins Hindi/Tulu A migrant rag-picker
2008 The Untouchables UNESCO 10 mins Kannada The Koraga community
2007 Makkala Panchayat (The Kid Power) FTII-UNDP 30 mins Kannada A children's self-governing Body
2006 Shaky souls, Empty Chairs, Testing Times Sonk Films 41 mins Hindi/English Compulsory Testing of HIV
2005 Bharatha Uvacha (Thus spoke Bharatha) Films Division 20 mins Hindi/English Ancient Indian treatise on theatre 'Natyashastra'
2003 Virus No. One Sonk Films 10 Mins Hindi/English/Gujarati Home care in HIV patients
2002 Kodavas – The Worrier race Films Division 10 mins Hindi/Kannada Kodava Community
2002 My Banjara Diary Cinema Vision India 50 mins Hindi/English Banjara community
2001 Gently down the stream Gayatree Telesofts 30x2 mins Hindi/Gujarati/Maliyaali Traditional ship building
2000 Voices from Mini Tibet Films Division 10 MIns Hindi Tibetan settlement in India
1999 Siri Festival Films Diviaion 10 mins Hindi/Kannada/Tulu Possession syndrome in religion
1998 Sarvodayagrama Films Division 10 mins Hindi/Kannada School run on the principles of Acharya Vinoba
1996 Durga Pooja Dziga Collective 40 mins Bengali/Hindi Bengali community in Mumbai

TV programs

Year Title Channel Segments/Episodes Notes
2005 Chacha Chaudary Sahara TV 30 x 70 episodes Children's serial
2002 Mr & Mrs Kumara Park East ETV – Kannada 30 x 10 episodes Sitcom
2001 Swamy Swamy ETV – Kannada 30 x 53 episodes Detective comedy
2000 Tele Tubbies Pogo TV and BBC World 4 x 25 segments Children's show
2000 Swara Sadhana Doordarshan 30 x 26 episodes Musical show
1999 Sahara Skits Sahara TV 4 mins x 10 segments Comic show
1997 India Anjaana Home TV 5 mins x 10 segments Cultural Magazine
1996 Naukar Hamara Doordarshan 12 mins x 26 episodes Sitcom
1995 The First Edition Doordarshan 23 mins a week x 6 months Current affairs
1991–2000 Surabhi Doordarshan 4 mins x 100 segments Cultural magazine

References

  1. ↑ Ramchandra PN at the Internet Movie Database
  2. ↑ Haal E Kangaal
  3. ↑ Interfilm-Akademie
  4. ↑ Kinema
  5. ↑ The Hindu
  6. ↑ Haal E Kangaal
  7. ↑ IMDB
  8. ↑ Lohit Diary
  9. ↑ Gudigeri Company Full Film
  10. ↑ BV Karanth: Baba
  11. ↑ BV Karanth: Baba
  12. ↑ / Rice and Rasam
  13. ↑ Miyar House
  14. ↑ Despite Distortions
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