Exclusive! Sanchith Sanjeev: Yes, I should have proved my worth for the Kichcha Jr title, but I understand the emotion behind it

It’s a development that has been in the works for many years, and this week, it’s been officially announced. Earlier today, Kiccha Sudeep tweeted about his nephew Sanchith Sanjeev’s impending directorial and acting debut, the muhurtha of which will be held tomorrow, on June 15. The film is being bankrolled by KP Sreekanth, G Manohar (Lahari Films) and Sudeep’s new banner Supriyanvi, that’s headed by his wife, Priya Sudeep.

OTTplay managed a quick telephonic chat with the debutant filmmaker-actor, ahead of the muhurtha of his film, Jimmy. Back in 2018, Sanchith had made baby steps into the industry, when he co-directed the film Ambi Ning Vayassayatho with Gurudath Ganiga. At the time, he had said that he was in preparation for an acting debut, and that his plan was to do a few films as an actor and then pursue his true passion - filmmaking. The pandemic, of course, scuttled those plans and he is now ready to get his debut film rolling.

“In the last few years, there were quite a few script narrations and discussions, but after the pandemic, there was a fundamental change in how to approach stories and their narratives, based on the content consumption pattern of audiences. We realized that the same old stories would not be exciting anymore. We were looking for something really fresh and content-driven and were clear that it would not be about checking all the boxes of typical commercial movies and then stitching a narrative together. It came to a point where Deepu mama (Sudeep), suggested doing something with the subject that we had experimented with as a short film many years ago. That story was stuck in his mind and through the years, he had developed it further into a script, but in his mind. It was probably a five-minute conversation in which he said that since we have clarity on what we are looking for, that I should direct it. He then told me the entire story, including specific scenes and gave it a certain flavour, which I then put into a proper bound script along with a couple of writer,” Sanchith tells us about how his debut film came together.

The biggest challenge in putting the script together, adds Sanchith, was in adding a hint of commerciality into it. “But I think we’ve pulled it off and it has come out really good,” he quips. The film is called Jimmy, a title that he was looking forward to announce along with his launch, but which was leaked to the media a few months ago. “It is a crime drama, in the sense that there is crime and there is drama, but that doesn’t mean that it is a crime movie with bloodshed. Jimmy is based in today’s Bengaluru, and we don’t see rowdy-sheeters roaming around and killing people. The power dynamics are very subtle now. Today, it is about the money, the power that you have and the people backing you that makes you a gangster. We are exploring that facet of the mafia,” explains the budding filmmaker-actor, who will get the film on floors in about a month’s time and will shoot it predominantly in Bengaluru and Mysuru.

Meanwhile, Sanchith’s launch announcement has brought him a lot of love from Sudeep fans who have extended a warm welcome into the Kannada film industry, but there’s also been some level of trolling and disapproval, as the team has announced his debut by calling him Kichcha Jr. The contention is that it is too early for him to have such a moniker and that he should have worked towards it first. Sanchith was not aware of this response, but candidly admits that such comments are “completely fair”. “I am glad that people are saying that if you want this you should work towards it and earn it. I totally get that. But the title comes from an emotional place. I understand that ‘Kichcha’ is an emotion and this moniker is something that I am using to get closer to the people. There was no intention of ‘branding’ myself, but Deepu mama thought that it implies that something’s coming. It was a name that he felt I deserved to carry on,” he says.