PremiumHemanth M Rao on film titles like Sapta Sagaradaache Ello: They should include an element of the story and function as an invitation card
The filmmaker does not belong to the school of thought that the title of the film ought to have maximum impact; instead, it should convey what the film is about
Last Updated: 03.23 PM, Aug 26, 2023
Filmmaker Hemanth M Rao is all of three films old, but with each, he’s chosen a title that was apt for the story he was telling. His directorial debut was with Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu in 2016. The film, which had Anant Nag and Rakshit Shetty in the lead, was about an elderly man, Venkob Rao, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, going missing and his son’s frantic search for him. The title of the film was derived from the description that the son, played by Rakshit, gives the police about his father. Three years later, his film Kavaludaari came out, a thriller about a traffic police officer, with a penchant to solve crime, who stumbles upon a case and decides to have a crack at it. The film had Anant Nag and Rishi in the lead.
Hemanth’s next film is Sapta Sagaradaache Ello , which he has only described as an intense love story and is set to release in theatres in two parts on September 1 and October 20 respectively. Unlike a lot of other filmmakers, who choose single-word titles that are either abbreviations, or the name of the protagonist, among others, and often, tends to have a certain impact when one listens to it, Hemanth’s film titles are in sync with the stories he tells. Speaking to the digital wing of a Kannada daily, the filmmaker explained that his idea of a title is that it should be befitting for the story. The title, he said, should have an element of the story, as that then becomes the invitation card for audiences and helps them understand what is being brought to the table. The effort that goes into the title of a film becomes just as important as the thought that goes into naming a child, he reasoned.