Raghu Samarth’s Kannada film Law has been released digitally. The film traces the journey of Nandini (played by debutante Ragini Prajwal, wife of Prajwal Devraj) as she fights for justice. It’s a legal drama that sees Ragini as a law graduate who takes up the mantle to fight for herself and face society and the kingpins. She is joined by a powerful cast including Sudha Rani, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Nataranga Rajesh and Achyuth Kumar.
Raghu, who started his career in the television industry with the legendary director TN Seetharam, and takes to a gripping courtroom drama after directing a romcom (Smile Please) as his debut film spoke to PeepingMoon.com exclusively about the film Law.
Excerpts from the interview:
What was your inspiration behind making Law?
For me I don’t want to be labelled and typecast in one genre and I don’t want to do cinema for just the sake of it. For me a story needs to be challenging, and it should interest today’s audience. There has to be some sense of believability in the story and more importantly for me it has to have some uniqueness, after all everyone is trying to tell a story. The story should pop out and that’s how Law popped out. It looked very interesting and challenging. I have grown amongst strong women so I can relate better to that, I can’t connect to those cinema where women are used as props and they come and dance and that’s all. We see a lot of injustice around us and there are a lot of crimes against women and our society is such that it curtails women’s freedom. I wanted to show what happens when a girl gives it back to the society. In an outer layer our protagonist is a law graduate and she is fighting for justice but the way she does it and why she does it is what the film is all about.
How did you zero down on Ragini Prajwal?
We wanted a fresh face for the film because with a known face there are lots of prejudices and we wanted that interest that how this girl will do. We have very experienced star cast in place, Ragini had done quite a few advertisements and it wasn’t, as if she had never faced the camera. However, when we went and narrated the story to her the way she received it there was a spark in her. We did a lot of workshops with her and made her practice so that she comes prepared on sets. If you see her you won’t be able to say that it is her first film.
Do you think once the theatres open films will still open on OTT?
Everything will have an opportunity I believe. Every opportunity arises due to some challenges. This situation nobody expected, even when the theatres open will the public come to watch that is also a big question. If my film was not ready then it would have been a different scenario but my film was ready and we thought that we should go through with this OTT release. This has become the first Kannada cinema to open on OTT and the way it’s reaching out to people is very heartening. Cinemas which are driven by content and lesser stars get a good exposure on digital platform and will be able to get better mileage.
What did you do to stave off comparisons with other legal dramas like Pink?
The unique thing about my film Law is that the protagonist herself is fighting for it and the way she is fighting for justice. Nobody else is coming to fight for her. The way she fights and the path that she chooses is the USP of my film and that is what makes it different.
Hypothetically, with which Bollywood director and actor you would like to collaborate?
I really want to do good cinema so collaborating with the right kind of people who can match my conviction and passion is very important. I personally like Rajkumar Hirani and he is one of my favourite directors so maybe I would like to collaborate with him. On the other hand, I really like Aamir Khan, he is my all-time favourite, so let’s see how my dreams unfold and if ever I get a chance to work with them. I am open to miracles in life, I don’t come with a lot of baggage and I go with the flow, so let’s see how the future pans out.
Any film that you would like to remake in Kannada or a biopic that you would like to make?
Remakes don’t excite me. Earlier, scenario was different as people were not exposed to other cinema but now audience are exposed to not only regional cinema but world cinema as well. Also, I feel with remakes there is a lot of negativity attached to it because the film would be somebody else’s baby and not mine. With regards to biopics I am mesmerized by Infosys’ Narayan and Sudha Murthy. Given a chance I would like to showcase their story, their simplicity on celluloid.
