Aachar & Co is a film that Puneeth Rajkumar had approved after seeing a 6-minute promo

Director Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy had approached the late Power Star with a pitch for Aachar & Co when she was working on his production, French Biriyani

Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy in a still from the film

Aachar & Co, which is set to release in theatres on July 28, is a PRK Productions venture, and, perhaps, among the last that Puneeth Rajkumar had greenlit before his tragic and untimely demise. The pitch for the film, written and directed by Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy, was brought before the late Power Star when she was working on his earlier production French Biriyani. Sindhu had a 6-minute showreel, as well as the full script and screenplay ready, which she ran by him. Puneeth was sold on the video, following which his wife Ashwini read the screenplay and also okayed it.

The film, explains Sindhu is a story set in the 60s, with the narrative spanning over a decade. “Aachar & Co is a story set in the Bengaluru of the 60s, focusing on a typical orthodox family in Jayanagar. The couple, Madhusudhan and Savitri Aachar (played by veteran actors Ashok and Sudha Belawadi) has 10 children. The story is set in the 60s, because it was a decade of important changes, like industrialisation and nationalisation of banks, but, most importantly, gender roles also began changing. Aachar & Co looks at how these 10 children of the Aachar household grow up amid these changing dynamics,” Sindhu said during the film’s trailer launch.

Although the film is set in Bengaluru, it was not shot in the city; instead, the team headed to Mysuru, where they found several live locations that retained the old-world charm of the 60s. Sindhu adds that they had to be extra cautious to ensure that no modern-day elements sneak into the frame at any point of time. Sindhu, who is a ‘90s-kid’, says that she wrote the story with inputs from her parents and grandparents to ensure that what she presents is as authentic as possible.

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