A couple of years ago, theatre artiste Lekha Naidu made her big screen foray with Sheethal Shetty’s directorial debut Window Seat. Lekha played a no-nonsense cop in the film and made quite the impression, leading to widespread comments that she ought to be seen more often in Kannada cinema. That was not to be, until now, with the release of the much-delayed Roopanthara, which comes to theatres on July 26.

A hyper-linked narrative following a bunch of characters in 5 stories that connect at some point, Roopanthara has Lekha playing a beggar. The visuals in the trailer of the film suggesting that her character not only has a learning and speech impediment, but has also been subjected to abuse. She begs with a child in tow, but is the little one hers? The entirety of her role is yet to be revealed, but speaking at the trailer launch, Lekha said that when she first read the script, it was not in the capacity of a prospective actor.

Grateful for the role: Lekha

At the time, the thought that struck her was that it would be a fantastic opportunity for whoever gets to play the role eventually. “The opportunity for an artiste to flex the artistic creativity muscle with this role is immense. I did not think it would come to me, but it did and I am very grateful that I got to flex this creativity with such a wonderful team. I’d never before seen a team where everyone contributes equally to the making of the film and, more importantly, is so generous in sharing space,” said Lekha.

Roopanthara has been produced by the makers of Ondu Motteya Kathe, which, according to Raj B Shetty, who has served as actor and dialogue writer and is presenting the film in theatres, is a serious movie presented in entertaining fashion. The film has cinematography by Raj’s regular collaborator Pravin Shriyan and music by Midhun Mukundan.

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