A director who dons many hats

Known for keeping audiences guessing about his movies, Anup Bhandari reveals little about his latest fantasy action thriller

Once upon a film set...

‘We don’t have a clapboard, sir.’

‘Oh, who has to get it?’

‘Direction department.’

‘Oh, ask them to get it.’

‘Sir... we are the direction department.’

‘You know what, I don’t like clapboards, let’s not have it.’

That was a behind-the-scenes exchange in which Anup Bhandari’s challenge was to direct his first Kannada feature film, RangiTaranga, without giving away that he was unfamiliar with the know-how of film sets. “But when it came to the vision of the film and storytelling, I was clear, and improved as I worked,” the 37-year-old remembers of his 2015 mystery-thriller.

Anup’s responsibility wasn’t limited to direction; he wrote the story (of a recluse novelist and his past), composed music, sang for it, and stringed lyrics — the song Kareyole is alliterative in whole, while the song Akka Pakka typifies an all-Kannada tongue-twister. He even designed the now-iconic face poster of the film. The film stood out as an all-rounder Kannada film of 2015, and for its focus on Tulunadu. And Anup emerged on the Sandalwood map.

Passionate roles

It’s not that he sets out to do everything in a film. “It’s sometimes out of necessity, sometimes because I love doing it,” he explains. Anup claims music is his passion, one that began when his father Sudhakar Bhandari bought him a keyboard in his childhood. “In fact, I haven’t learnt anything formally. It’s more out of passion,” he says.

Born in a village 20 km from Puttur, and brought up in Mysuru, Anup grew up in an atmosphere of much artistic vibes. “My dad would sing, narrate stories of his childhood, drama; the visits to the ancestral house during holidays, the greenery — all this inclined me towards the arts,” he recalls.

The impressions of words were not far away for Anup, who devoured Balamangala, Balamitra, Champak, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Tintin etc. “That’s the beginning of my inclination towards mystery,” he explains, adding, I can write lyrics in Kannada only because of this.”

What he also did while growing up was write scripts — for skits in college. And later, while working for a software firm in the US, for short films. “I felt I was not doing much in life artistically. IT was something I had to do. Once while carpooling in the US, my friend spoke about his wife, a sign language interpreter, and I scripted the short film Words.” he recalls. The story without words won awards and recognition at international film festivals. “That’s how I progressed to RangiTaranga,” he adds. In 2018, he brought out his second film, Rajaratha, a romantic comedy.

Brothers in arms

Throughout Anup’s artistic journey, there was one person beside him: a collaborator, a confidant: his brother Nirup Bhandari. During their childhood, Anup remembers dunking Nirup’s head in the village stream to show who the boss (director) was while enacting scenes.

Much later, Nirup was the one who went to a theatre and asked people to watch their film RangiTaranga, while Anup sat on the bench for the whole day in Kapali (theatre) because of the lack of response to the film, although it picked up viewership later through word of mouth and online promotions. “The two topics we have always talked about are movies and cricket. He understands me. When we work on different projects, we make each other part of the discussion,” says the elder brother.

For Anup the director, it’s important to entertain as many people as possible, and while doing so, maintain sensibility in the film. “My characters should be guided by reason and credibility. I grew up watching masala films in the 90s, and understood cinema only after I began watching world cinema. It’s the combination of two I try to bring out in my films,” he states.

He also takes pride in his ability to keep secrets. For instance, about the next film he’s directing, Billa Ranga Baasha, he says nothing more than, “It’s set in 2209 AD; it’s an action-adventure, and it’s in pre-production. And of course, Sudeep’s in it.”

But, will there be a clapboard for this one?

“Yes, there will be,” Anup says.