Chandrajith Belliappa is the last of actor-filmmaker Rakshit Shetty’s trusted gang of writers – Seven Odds – to turn filmmaker. Chan, as he is fondly known, has been dabbling with writing for Rakshit’s Paramvah Studios productions, directed a segment in the anthology Katha Sangama that Rishab Shetty produced, and now, with Ibbani Tabbida Ileyali, he steps up as director and shows audiences what he brings to the table.

The film, starring Vihan, Ankita Amar and Mayuri Nataraj in pivotal roles, released in theatres on September 6 and has been getting a lot of positive feedback for Chandrajith’s writing and execution, the music, cinematography and, of course, the performances. Prior to the film’s release, Chandrajith had largely spoken about how Rakshit backed the idea of turning a blog post from nearly a decade ago into a movie and now that he has presented it to audiences, he settles in for a quick chat about a little more.t 

Excerpts from a conversation with Ibbani Tabbida Ileyali director Chandrajith Belliappa

In kickstarting your directorial journey with Ibbani Tabbida Ileyali, you chose not to follow the tried-and-tested route of making a crowd-pleasing ‘mass commercial movie’ and presented a love story aimed at a niche crowd. What gave you the confidence to trust your gut?

I have been with Paramvah Studios since the day Rakshit liked the blog post I had shared with him, which has now become Ibbani TAbbida Ileyali. I worked on Kirik Party, Avane Srimannarayana, etc., and in the last 7-8 years, I have been a part of the team that’s a melting point of filmmakers and writers of different genres. We got to understand each other’s craft and vision towards cinema and Rakshit was very clear that he wants to support every single voice. For instance, there is Nagarjuna, who is working on the horror genre, Rahul PK, who does dramas and gangster thrillers, Abhishek Mahesh who does Comedy, Anirudh, who writes scripts with Tumbad-like texture, intertwining it with folklore. Each one has a unique voice and Rakshit wanted us all to have a platform. After Avane Srimannarayana, Rakshit had told me that it was time to graduate to the next level.

I began working on my script, but half-way through, the pandemic hit. Eventually, the writing took me about a year-and-a-half, because after each draft (which was in English), I’d run it by Rakshit and he’d have a few suggestions, none of which he’d impose. After multiple drafts, I then translated it to Kannada, which then underwent further changes, before we arrived at the final version.

At the time, even though the pandemic had hit, in terms of movie-making business, it was not bad, because the OTT boom had happened and with Paramvah Studios backing, return on investment would be possible with satellite and OTT avenues, not only because of the banner’s reputation, but also because we consistently churn out content, which keeps the relationship with these partners going.

Then came the budgeting; I had a very clear picture of how the film should look and sound and when I did the number crunching, I arrived at Rs 6 cr plus. Rakshit did ask if it would be possible to make it at a lower budget, say, Rs 3.5 cr to Rs 4 cr, but then, no matter what I tried, I realized that if I have to do the film the way I want, the initial number is what was required. When I went back to Rakshit and told him as much, he just said, ‘Ok’ and asked me to go ahead, so I assured him that I would package it in a certain way that would appeal to Paramvah Studios’ first circle of loyal fans. I was sure that even with fresh faces I would be able to build traction towards the film. Rakshit then said, ‘Don’t worry; I will stand by you’ and after that there’ve been no questions whatsoever.

Right from when this budget was okayed, we knew that this was a risky proposition, but Rakshit was willing to take that risk.

You also went ahead with a relatively newbie cast, none of who have ‘market value’…

So, I actually wanted to cast Rakshit in Vihan’s role, but then he was busy with Sapta Sagaradaache Ello and told me that I would have to wait until he finishes Richard Anthony and Punyakoti, which was too long, so I decided to go with other options. Given the budget, I would need a star who can fit into the role, but I could not find the perfect fit. I needed a star who’d look a certain way, breathe a certain way. Also, I am the kind of director who looks for certain traitors in the actor that are very close to the character I have written, so that I can elicit minute details from them. Everyone who’d read the script had the same question – who am I going to cast in the role of Siddartha Ashok. When I finally arrived on Vihan, I told Rakshit that I see Sid in him; yet again, no questions asked.

With Ankita, the concern was that I was casting a TV serial actress. There is a stigma attached to working with TV actors; it is believed that people will not be interested to watch a serial actor’s movie and that it would accept the film negatively. When I met her, though, from the very first moment I knew that she was the one who could bring Anahita to life the way I wanted.

When you are doing a Rs 6 cr + film, and don’t have stars onboard, then, only with great actors who fit into the role can you have the confidence to get back the money. In a sense, casting Vihan and Ankita was a kind of safety net for us, because a star who is not right for the role would have impacted the film badly.

The fact that you wanted Rakshit for the role is interesting, but then having him in two back-to-back love stories with a hint of tragedy (Sapta Sagaradaache Ello and Ibbani Tabbida Ileyali) would have been repetitive for him, in a sense. Having said that, during the press show of the film, there was an observation that Vihan was channelling Rakshit. Could it be, perhaps, that Vihan looking and sounding like Rakshit was Chandrajith’s doing?

Well, a lot of the character traits that Vihan has for Sid are inspired by the actors in films of the 90s. I also wanted the film to have a Mani Ratnam movie vibe, as well as a modern-day Christmas holiday rom-com. I had these things in mind, so we had a lot of workshops to hit the right cues. There was no conscious effort to have Vihan channel Rakshit. But if a script breathes in a certain fashion, the actors will try to bring in the same texture to it. Having said that, the pitch of the character could not be exaggerated or loud; leaning towards any of this would have meant that the role does not land well, increasing the chances of people hating him. If you see, Siddartha does a lot of stuff that’s not entirely likeable and there are audiences who may not like that. It was a tightrope for Vihan to walk and he had to go with a subtle range of acting, which was an unexplored facet of him as an actor.

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