Celebrated actor, mimicry artist and musician, Balaraman Kunduvara, marks his debut as a Director with not one, but three short films, titled Navarasa. Starring Rachita Arke and Lagnajit Patnaik, each of the three films present a unique perspective on everyday emotions. They are available on YouTube at the following links:
- Navarasa [Version 1] – https://youtu.be/3UVCmqiiihg
- Navarasa [Version 2] – https://youtu.be/0JfHCvB8T3I
- Navarasa [Version 3] – https://youtu.be/SYw0SwxlCnE
Film enthusiasts can also engage with the Cast & Crew in a Facebook Live conversation, facilitated by Actor and Friend of #BDNPJump, Tania Mukherjee, as per the following:
Date: Sunday, 15 August 2021
Time: 5.30pm SGT
Page: www.facebook.com/BDNPJump
Navarasa is conceptualised by Shilpa Krishnan Shukla and written by Rachita Arke. The Screenplay of the film is written by Balaraman Kunduvara, who has also edited the film. The film also marks the film debut of actor Lagnajit Patnaik.
“Balaraman and I have been working on various projects – stage shows, theatre, films for 20 years now! So I can’t even begin to describe my excitement to see his first project as a director come to life,” wrote Shilpa Krishnan Shukla in a Social Media post. “What makes this extra special is that unlike other films of the series, where I had written the script – for Navarasa, all I offered was a concept. Rachita wrote the first script and Bala then turned it into not 1… but 3 different films!”
Navarasa is one of eight of the #BDNPJump initiative, a collaboration between Black Dabba Productions and The Navya Project. Each of the three short films are in Hindi and English, and were shot in Singapore during the Pandemic, in line with safe distancing protocol.
The novel concept has received encouraging feedback. Singapore-based Actor and Friend of #BDNPJump, Vishal Khattri writes:
“Watched all three versions, and absolutely loved them ALL! It is a simple, yet fascinating presentation. I was excited to see the next version each time, at the completion of the previous one – the differences were fun to watch, and the nuances were lovely.”
The film marks the directorial debut of Singapore-based Balaraman Kunduvara.
Balaraman is an Engineer by profession and currently works in the Financial Services Industry. He has worked with several amateur theatre and music groups over the past 20 years. Bala, a stand-up comedian and mimicry artist in his early days, is now associated with multiple award-winning short films, web series and independent feature films. He is also an enthusiast of arts and music. He is currently pursuing his passion of learning and scoring music, and will be seen next as an actor in Shilpa Krishnan Shukla’s feature film, The Reading.
The #BDNPJump initiative aims to nurture independent filmmaking talent in Singapore. The collaboration introduces eight debut directors. Apart from Balaraman, the other debut Directors are Aditya Mazumdar (film: Neelambari), Charan Singh (film: Dost, released), Gautam Marathe (film: Butterflies), Sai Pogaru (film: Dad, released), Uma Kalyani (film: Mini, released), Viral Patel (film: Aerogrammes, released) and Mathew Jenif Joseph (film: Vesta, released).
All eight directors have received guidance on various aspects of filmmaking – from story-boarding, to editing and post-production, as well as marketing and communications.
Malayalam film, Neelambari by debut director, Aditya Mazumdar is an Onam release on popular Malayalam OTT platform, NeeStream’s YouTube page, on 20 August 2021.
