New trend: 'Road King' remotely directed

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru

The upcoming Kannada release Road King is special for quite a few reasons.

This is the first Kannada film directed by Hollywood director Randy Kent. Kent directed this film remotely through Skype without being physically present at the shooting locations, making Road King a unique experiment.

Mateen Hussain, who plays the lead role, said that the ‘online direction’ was caused by necessity and not originally planned.

“Randy Kent was supposed to be in India to direct the film. The Covid pandemic and the travel restrictions that followed severely affected our plans. My friend Bhuvan suggested if it was possible for Kent to direct the film over Skype. We gave it a try and here we are with the world’s first film to be remotely directed,” Hussain said.

Mateen grew up in the US and knew Randy Kent. When he decided to produce a Kannada film, he fell back on Kent.

“Kent was hesitant to direct a film in a language he did not New trend: 'Road King' remotely directed know. But it was also a challenge he was willing to take on. When the visa issue cropped up, the very fate of the project was on thin ice. But when Kent agreed to direct the film remotely, it got a fresh lease of life,” Hussain said.

Kent has directed films including Life of Lemon and Perfect House. Another Hollywood technician who has worked in this film is sound designer Scott Wolf. Kent has finally made it to India before the film’s release. He is in Bengaluru promoting the film.

“I have directed 12 films and this is my first film in a language other than English. The film was special because I directed it online through Skype and I am very happy to be part of a Kannada film,” he said.

Sri Crazy Mindz explained how it was a challenging task to direct a film when not physically present on the set.

“A director has to have eyes all over him during shooting. Kent has made a commendable job with this project and his commitment has seen us through,” he said.

Apart from Mateen, the film stars Leela Mohan, Rukshar Dhillon (of Run Antony fame), Harish Sejekan and Nayana Shetty. Arif Lalani has handled the cinematography while Sri Crazy Mindz is the editor of Road King. The film was ready almost a year ago, but the release was delayed. The film team has now scheduled Road King’s theatrical release on June 23. Producer Dilip Kumar is already planning a sequel to the film.

“I know how nice this film has turned out to be. I am confident it will do well and the plans for a sequel are already underway,” he said.

The film is inspired by a real-life incident that happened in Kolar a few years ago. It narrates the story of a man suffering from ‘obsessive ex syndrome’ in which a person is unable to come out of his obsession with a former partner.