Sachin Tendulkar in a Kannada film!

Two Kannada films entirely contrast in nature will be releasing today, Friday, July 11 across Karnataka.

While one of them is a 3-Dl horror film titled Aakramana (attack), the other release is a children’s film titled Sachin, Tendulkar Alla (Sachin, not Tendulkar). Aakramana is directed by debutant Prashant Kumar and Sachin is directed by actor-director S Mohan.

Let’s see what this week’s releases have to offer to the Kannada audiences.

Sachin, Tendulkar Alla

Cast: Suhasini Maniratnam, Master Snehith, Venkatesh Prasad, Sudha Rani, Ashwini Gowda

Dir: S Mohan

The movie which has been certified as a ‘children’s film’ captures the struggles of an autistic boy to make it big as a cricketer.

Master Snehith who has acted in a few Kannada films as a child artiste plays the title role of Sachin who aspires to become Tendulkar. Says Snehith, “I am not Tendulkar but I want to become like him. Sachin Tendulkar is my idol and I worship him as my cricketing hero in the movie.”

Says Suhasini, “This is a cricket-based film. The story is about my character’s younger brother who was born with autism. So, in order to  take care of him my character decides not to get married. I soon realise that my brother’s  interest lies in cricket, so I encourage him. I remain unmarried as I focus on my younger brother. He understands that and helps me.”

Former Indian pacer is making his cinematic debut with this film. He plays a coach in the movie who helps Sachin realize his dream and come into his own as a cricketer.

Director Mohan says there is a 30-minute cricket match in the movie which is one of the major highlights of the film. Veteran actress Sudha Rani will be seen in a prominent role.

The film is produced by B N Gangadhar. The film has music by Rajesh Ramanath and cinematography by Prasad Babu.

The film has been shot mostly in Bangalore.

Cast: Raghu Mukherjee, Daisy Shah, Shilpi Sharma, Makrand Deshpande, Avinash, K S Sridhar, Ramesh Pandit 

Director: Prashanth Kumar

Aakramana is the second 3-D Kannada movie after Upendra-Ramya starrer Katari Veera Sura Sundarangi. Aakramana is the first horror movie in Kannada to be shot in the 3-D format.

According to the director Prashanth Kumar, the film has elements of suspense and horror. He said the highlight of the movie is the use of graphics for a length of 15 minutes. Prashanth, who is also one of the producers, said the movie will be released in both the 2-D and 3-D formats as the movie was shot in both the formats simultaneously.

The 3-D format of the movie will be released in select theatres and multiplexes while the 2-D format will be released in all single-screen theatres that do not support the 3-D format, according to Prashanth.

Model-turned-actor Raghu Mukherjee plays a cop in the movie and is paired opposite two heroines Daisy Shah and Shilpi Sharma. Daisy Sharma debuted in Hindi cinema earlier this year opposite Salman Khan in Jai Ho. Mumbai-based model-turned-actress Shilpi Sharma plays a doctor in the movie who opposes superstitious beliefs.

Satish Aryan has composed the music and K J Rateesh is the cinematographer. Vimal Jain and Paramesh are the co-producers. Oscar Abhishek, Lalith Raj Vinayak and Adarsh have penned the dialogues.

The film has been shot extensively in Mysore, Madikeri and Kasaragod. Aakramana will be released in Telugu as well. The film has been given an ‘A’ certificate by the Censor Board.