‘An effort to tell middle-class stories’: Nagaraja Somayaji

A delivery agent, a cabbie, a political party worker and a sales girl are the prominent characters in Maryade Prashne, a new Kannada film set for release next week. These characters are played by Sunil Raoh, Poornachandra Mysore, Rakesh Adiga and Teju Belawadi. They are contrasted by another group of upper class people living in Indiranagar, Bengaluru.

“The film is made from a realistic approach. We’ve explored the lives of the middle class residents of Chamrajapet,” Nagaraja Somayaji, the director of the film, tells Showtime. 

It’s a revenge drama that revolves around the importance and value of respect, says the director. 

Vedas to filmmaking

Nagaraja hails from Mundukodu, a hamlet in Kundapura. After his 10th grade, he began learning the vedas in Sringeri. However, after completing the Rigveda course, he decided to leave and enrolled in a Sanskrit college in Udupi. Yearning to learn something new, he arrived in Bengaluru in 2012 and joined the Sanchari theatre group. “I did a few plays and acted in a couple of television series. I also wrote a lot and tried my hands at directing. At one point, my friend Sridhar Banawasi suggested I focus on one area. That’s when I decided to take up directing,” says Nagaraja. He then chose a story from Sridhar’s short story collection. It was titled ‘British Bungalow’ and published under the pen name Fakeera. He adapted it for a micro movie called The Hero. “It was an attempt to see if I was capable of capturing the audiences’ attention for 43 minutes,” he adds. 

An experienced photographer and cinematographer, he started a company called Focus Photography Service. “I’m used to capturing real moments. So wedding and event photography has helped me bring in a realistic approach in my films,” says Nagaraja, who has also done still photography for films like Ugramm, Rathavara and Pushpaka Vimana. Along with his friends, Sanchari Vijay and Arvind Kuplikar, he made a film titled Puksatte Lifu. He produced the film. “But even before the release, my friend (Sanchari Vijay) died,” he shares. 

When R J Pradeepa of Sakkath Studio shared the story of ‘Maryade Prashne’ with Nagaraja, he readily agreed to direct it. “Every character in the film is on a mission. A cab driver aspiring to buy his own car, a working woman’s ambition to become fully independent and a party worker who hopes to become a politician. The delivery agent’s job shows that failure in business is not the end,” he adds.