Ramchandra P. N.

Ramchandra P. N. is an award-winning filmmaker making feature films, short films, documentaries and TV programs. in India. He is a Tuluva based in Mumbai.

Ramchandra PN
Born1965
Udupi, Karnataka
OccupationFilm director, producer and screenwriter
Spouse(s)Sushma PN
Websitesonkfilms.com

Early days

Ramchandra Perampalli Neckar[1] was born in the town of Udupi in the erstwhile undivided Dakshina Kannada District (now Udupi District) in the coastal area of the state of Karnataka in southern India, in 1965. His father worked in the Life Insurance Corporation of India; his mother was a housewife. Ramchandra PN completed his education in various schools and colleges in Kota, Kundapura, Mumbai, Manipal, Dharwad and Udupi. He is a commerce graduate from Mangalore University.

Early interests

Ramchandra PN's initial foray into the arts got kindled during his college days in Poornaprajna College, Udupi. After unsuccessful attempts at learning disciplines as varied as the guitar, drawing and the traditional performing art of Yakshagana, he got involved in theatre as an actor as well as a back stage worker in various plays directed by Kannada theatre directors from Coastal Karnataka like B. R. Nagesh, Udyavara Madhava Acharya, Ramdas and R. L. Bhat. Meanwhile, he horned his still photography skills, thanks to a Pentax still camera donated to him by his uncle. He then attuned his creative instincts by attending various theatre workshops conducted by renowned Kannada theatre personalities like Chidambar Rao Jambe and Gangadhar Swamy. For a couple of years, he along with his friends led by theatre activist Udyavara Nagesh Kumar founded a mime troupe that performed in various festival celebrations, in and around the town of Udupi.

Interest in films

But Ramchandra PN's real calling was films. He was an active member of the now-defunct Chitra Samudaya, a Film society that was active in Udupi whose secretary owned a 16 mm projector. By the time he was in his twenties he had already seen classics like The Seventh Seal, Bicycle Thieves, Pather Panchali, Rashomon and Ghatashraddha. At the age of nineteen, he along with his cousin and their friends made a short film called Happy Birthday with a VHS camera loaned by a friend whose father worked in the Middle East. Since they had no editing facilities then, they shot the film in the editing order.

Training in films

Ramchandra PN's growing interests in films took him to Mangalore, Heggodu and Bengaluru where he attended various film appreciation courses conducted by the likes of K. V. Subbanna, Satish Bahadhur, P.K. Nair, Nirad Mahapatra, Hariharan, Girish Kasaravalli and Abdul Rehaman Pasha. Finally, in 1987 dropping out from his Law and Charted Accounting studies, he joined the Film and Television Institute of India, Poona to do a three-year course in Film Direction and Screenplay Writing. His diploma film Gotala was screened in the then Bombay Short and Documentary Film Festival, held in the early 1990s.

Professional life

After graduating from Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Ramchandra PN thought he would settle down in Bengaluru, the capital of his home state Karnataka. Thanks to a cousin, he sneaked into the mainstream Kannada film industry and worked in the Kannada super star Vishnuvardhan's bilingual film called Police Dada; where he was the 8th assistant to the Hindi film directors Ramsay brothers. But after a schedule of filming, Ramchandra PN found out that commercial mainstream cinema was not his cup of tea.

He came to Mumbai in 1991 and got himself involved in the Television serial Surabhi a cultural show that was experimenting with the TV magazine format, produced by anchor Siddharth Kak. Over the next ten years, as a freelancer, he directed more than hundred short documentaries for this cultural show, subjects mainly pertaining to his home state of Karnataka – on Gangubai Hanagal, Mallikarjun Mansur, Shivaram Karanth, B.V. Karanth, Vijaynath Shenoy's Hastha Shilpa, the Hampi Ruins, the Hoysala Temples, Mysore Ganjifa, the professional stage actresses of Mariyammanahalli, cock fights, the Electronic tampura, the Lokur Joint family in North Karnataka, the Coastal Buffalo race of Kambala among others.

Ramchandra PN has been residing in Mumbai since 1990. Over the years he gradually ventured into other TV programs, feature films, documentaries and short films in English, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Kutchhi and Tulu languages.

Turning point

Ten years into doing television, Ramchandra PN found himself in the crossroads of his career for he had not yet made his feature film – the very purpose for which he joined FTII in the first place. Taking advantage of the newly developing digital technology, in the year 2004, with the help of his assistant Surendra Kumar Marnad and friend Mohan Marnad he ventured in producing and directing the first digital feature film in Tulu language called Suddha (The Cleansing Rites). This no-cost film went on to win the Best Indian Film at the 2006 Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab films that was held in New Delhi. In 2007 it won a modest exhibition Grant from the Hubart Balls fund under which Ramchandra PN went around with a mobile projector, a portable screen and a sound system to screen the film in more than 100 places in the remote villages of the Tulu-speaking districts of Coastal Karnataka.

In 2008, he shot his second feature Putaani Party (The Kid Gang) – this time in Kannada language and in the district of Dharwad in North Karnataka. This film was produced by The Children's Film Society of India. This film won the Best Children's film at the 2009 National Film Awards.

Ramchandra PN has completed his third feature Haal E Kangaal, in Hindi language and is screening it in alternative venues all over India.[2]

Besides, he also conducts academic workshops in various film schools in India like the FTII, Poona & L. V. Prasad Film Institute, Chennai.

Awards
  • 'Putaani Party' – a Children's film directed by Ramchandra PN has jointly won the Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) for the Best Children's Film at the 2009 National Film Awards constituted by the Government of India.
  • In 2005, Ramchandra PN made a Tulu language digital feature film called Suddha, also known as The Cleansing Rites.[3] This film won the Best Indian Film at the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema[4] held at New Delhi. The five members jury had given the award for "its poetic, evocative and uncompromising style reflecting the moods of contemporary India."
  • In 2004, his short film Heart Troubles of Ramchand Yavathmal Tirchuinapalli Azamghar won the best short film at the Abuja International Film Festival, Nigeria.

On Suddha – The Cleansing Rites

The Bangalore edition of the newspaper 'The Hindu had described the film Suddha – The Cleansing Ritesas follows.

"The allure of the 105-minute Tulu film is mainly due to its impressive technical accomplishments. Camerawork by Sameer Mahajan uses light and shade superbly and captures the mood and feel of the story. The interiors of the typical rural house – with peeling walls and old-world appendages – which stand as mute witness of the breaking family have been shot with care and sensitivity."

(Source: The Hindu)[5]

Filmography

Feature films
YearTitleCastLanguage
2019Bunnu K. Endo Maye (The Maya of Bunnu K. Endo)[6]Chitrra Jetliy, Vinnay VishwaaKannada, Hindi
2015Haal E Kangaal (The Bankrupts)[7]Niraj Sah, Hemant MahaurHindi
2009Putaani Party – The Kid GangRanjita Jadhav, Sharad Anchatgiri, Pavan Hanchinaal, Jayalakshmi Patil, Bhavani PrakashKannada
2005Suddha – The Cleansing RitesSubhash Padivaal, Sai Prakash, Asha MarnadTulu

Short fiction
YearTitleCastLanguage
2018Double Life[8]Saumesh Bangera, Aneesh Pandelu, Ratika Kamath, Santosh ShettyHindi
2015Tiku Tiku Director (The fragile director)Vidhan Kothari, Satvika Khandgaonkar, Samridh Tandon, Sharman GuptaHindi
2012Khana Khazaana (The treasure meal)Resh Lamba, Vikas Shukla, Khusboo Upadhaya, AnuragHindi
2011Mister and MistressBijaya Jena, Niraj Sah, Seema Bora, Reema DasHindi
2008Babe se date (Date with a babe)Kunal Khotari, Sagarika Sawhney, Nikhila NanduriHinglish
2006Mani Bhai Pass Hogaye? (Did brother Mani succeed?)Sudhir Choudhary, Rasika Duggal, Shinjini Raval, Oroshikha DayHindi
2004Out of TuneAnil PandeHinglish
2003Heart Troubles of Ramchand Yavathmal Tiruchinapalli AzamgharAnil PandeHinglish
1991The Hot ShotVinay Edekar, Manisha KamathOnly music

Documentaries
YearTitleProducerLengthLanguageAbout
2016The Unbearable Being of Lightness[9]Sonk Films45 minsEnglishDalit Issues
2015Lohit Diary[10]Films Division75 minsHindi/English/& 16 other dialectsLife in Lohit Valley in Arunachal Pradesh
2013Gudigeri Company[11]Sonk Films25 minsKannadaLive in a professional Theater troupe
2012BV Karanth:Baba[12][13]Films Division93 minsHindi/English/KannadaBiography of BV Karanth
2012Rice and Rasam (Anna Saaru)[14]P.S.B.T.-FD52 minsKannadaProfessional theatre troupes in Karnataka
2012A Pinch of SaltFilms Division52 minsGujarati/EnglishEducation among the Agaria community children
2011Miyar House[15]Sonk Films76 minsKannada/Englishdismantling of a century old house
2010Floating HealersFilms Division52 minsBengali/EnglishA medical boat in Sundarbans
2009Nuts and BoltsSonk Films29 minsKannadaGovernance reach in Rural India
2008Despite Distortions[16]Sonk Films4 minsHindi/TuluA migrant rag-picker
2008The UntouchablesUNESCO10 minsKannadaThe Koraga community
2007Makkala Panchayat (The Kid Power)FTII-UNDP30 minsKannadaA children's self-governing Body
2006Shaky souls, Empty Chairs, Testing TimesSonk Films41 minsHindi/EnglishCompulsory Testing of HIV
2005Bharatha Uvacha (Thus spoke Bharatha)Films Division20 minsHindi/EnglishAncient Indian treatise on theatre 'Natyashastra'
2003Virus No. OneSonk Films10 MinsHindi/English/GujaratiHome care in HIV patients
2002Kodavas – The Worrier raceFilms Division10 minsHindi/KannadaKodava Community
2002My Banjara DiaryCinema Vision India50 minsHindi/EnglishBanjara community
2001Gently down the streamGayatree Telesofts30x2 minsHindi/Gujarati/MaliyaaliTraditional ship building
2000Voices from Mini TibetFilms Division10 MInsHindiTibetan settlement in India
1999Siri FestivalFilms Diviaion10 minsHindi/Kannada/TuluPossession syndrome in religion
1998SarvodayagramaFilms Division10 minsHindi/KannadaSchool run on the principles of Acharya Vinoba
1996Durga PoojaDziga Collective40 minsBengali/HindiBengali community in Mumbai

TV Programmes
YearTitleChannelLanguageSegments/EpisodesNotes
2005Chacha ChaudarySahara TVHindi30 x 70 episodesChildren's serial
2002Mr & Mrs Kumara Park EastETV – KannadaKannada30 x 10 episodesSitcom
2001Swamy SwamyETV – KannadaKannada30 x 53 episodesDetective comedy
2000Tele TubbiesPogo TV and BBC WorldEnglish4 x 25 segmentsChildren's show
2000Swara SadhanaDoordarshanHindi30 x 26 episodesMusical show
1999Sahara SkitsSahara TVHindi4 mins x 10 segmentsComic show
1997India AnjaanaHome TVHindi5 mins x 10 segmentsCultural Magazine
1996Naukar HamaraDoordarshanHindi12 mins x 26 episodesSitcom
1995The First EditionDoordarshanEnglish23 mins a week x 6 monthsCurrent affairs
1991–2000SurabhiDoordarshanHindi4 mins x 100 segmentsCultural magazine

Film reviews

Ramchandra reviews films for Upper Stall [17]

References
  1. Ramchandra PN at IMDb
  2. Haal E Kangaal
  3. Interfilm-Akademie Archived 22 April 2007 at Archive.today
  4. Kinema
  5. The Hindu
  6. Bunnu K. Endo Maye
  7. Haal E Kangaal
  8. Double Life
  9. IMDB
  10. Lohit Diary Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Gudigeri Company Full Film
  12. BV Karanth: Baba
  13. BV Karanth: Baba
  14. / Rice and Rasam
  15. Miyar House
  16. Despite Distortions
  17. Upper Stall

[1][2][3][4]

  1. http://www.sonkfilms.com/featurefilms.htm
  2. http://www.sonkfilms.com/documentry.htm
  3. http://www.sonkfilms.com/shortfiction.htm
  4. http://www.sonkfilms.com/tv.htm
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