D2R Indie, Raj & DK’s (Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK) latest venture in nurturing budding filmmakers, launched the trailer of an independent Telugu comedy drama, Cinema Bandi. The trailer was released exclusively on Netflix India this Friday, and will start streaming on May 14, 2021.
Cinema Bandi (translating to “The Film Cart”) is for all cinema lovers. “After all, everyone is a filmmaker at heart. Especially in our country,” muse Raj & DK. And the film proves just that. In the words of Raj & DK, “It’s grassroots filmmaking at its most basic — shot by a bunch of friends — just 10 people, some of them who also doubled as actors. That’s how an indie is made!”
The film is directed by first-timer Praveen Kandregula and written by Vasanth Mariganti. The film stars an ensemble of professional and amateur actors, including Vikas Vasishta, Varanasi Sandeep Kumar, Rag Mayur, Uma YG, Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy, Siri Vennela, Trishara. And the music is composed by another first-timer, Sirish Satyavolu.
“When we first started, we had to do it all by ourselves. So we’ve been thinking, why not be there for other filmmakers like us? Why not go back to our roots, where we started? Which brought us to — D2R Indie — our initiative to help upcoming, independent filmmakers make their films! We are happy to present Cinema Bandi as our first Telugu indie. Praveen, Vasanth & team did a fabulous job in pulling off this hilariously crazy film with a big heart!” said the filmmaker duo Raj & DK.
Cinema Bandi explores the story of a shared-auto driver who finds a camera in the backseat of his rickshaw and decides to gather his village and make a film, ‘picchar’ as they call it. Of course, no one knows anything remotely about making a film. But they have vast experience in watching films, their wits, and various ways of ‘jugad’. How hard can it be!? The film details their hilarious journey of highs and lows as they make their innocent, amateur film.
“The film is set in a village, at the border between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The residents of the village speak in a curious mix of Telugu and Kannada – a strange dialect that has never been shown on the screen. This dialect and the two cultures seep into the city of Bengaluru, where I found the roots of my story. Mentored by acclaimed filmmakers, Raj and DK and premiering on Netflix, I can’t think of a better debut for our film. This is a dream come true!” happily recalls Praveen Kandregula, who will be debuting as a director with this film.
The film-maker duo has a reputation for doing the unexpected, be it India's first zombie film "Go Goa Gone,” the game-changing, blockbuster "Stree” or the much-acclaimed, super-hit series “The Family Man.” They have delivered numerous path-breaking content with an unorthodox understanding of the world they create, earning them the reputation of being a maverick duo!
Currently, they are in the middle of production of two ambitious series, one of them starring Shahid Kapoor & Vijay Sethupathi, as they await the release of the second season of ‘The Family Man.’
