Shri Balaji Photo Studio: When and where to watch Rajesh Dhruva’s debut directorial
The film, which was among the first releases of the year in January, has finally found a streaming partner
Jun 17, 2023
Rajesh Dhruva in a still from the film
Rajesh Dhruva, best known for his work on the popular Kannada TV serial Agnisakshi, ventured into filmmaking last year, with a movie in which he played the lead as well, called Shri Balaji Photo Studio. The film made its way to theatres in January this year, and received positive reviews, but it is only now that the team has been able to secure it a streaming partner. The 2. 25 hour-long film is available on MX Player for free, with Kannada audio only and English subtitles.
Shri Balaji Photo Studio (Since 1979) follows the protagonist Puttu (Rajesh), a photographer in a small town, where his skill sets do not receive the appreciation he hopes for. Determined to make something out of his life and seek greener pastures, Puttu decides to mortgage the studio he inherited from his father to fund his prospects in a bigger town. But things don’t go as per his plans when he realizes that the studio is already under mortgage with a local moneylender. Then to make matters worse, a pre-wedding shoot he does goes horribly wrong. How Puttu finds a way out of this mess forms the crux of the movie.
Written by Abhishek Sirsi and Prithvikanth, produced by Venkateshwar Rao, the film has Manoj Cinestudio as the cinematographer and Sriram Gandharva as composer. Sri Balaji Photo Studio’s cast also includes Nakul, Subbalakshmi, Ravi Salian, Radhika Achuth Rao, Sampath G Ram, Rakshit Gowda, and Ravi Moorur, among others.
In earlier conversations with the media, Rajesh had said that he turned to direction because he was not getting the kind of subjects and characters he wanted. Rajesh said that he trained himself by making a bunch of short films before taking the plunge in feature films with Shri Balaji Photo Studio.
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