Harshad Nalawade is on cloud nine. His directorial, Follower, will have its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which is set to take place from January 25 to February 5 in the Netherlands.
“Our primary goal was simple. We wanted people to see this film… But for an independent movie to reach a wider audience, we need the help of film festivals. That’s where small films get recognised and people come to know about them. So yes, a prestigious festival like this was definitely on the list of our goals,” an ecstatic Nalawade tells us.
However, he is quick to add that the journey till here was anything but smooth. Recalling the struggles the team went through to finance the political drama — which took almost four years to complete — he says, “I was eager to make a feature film and there were some ideas that I was toying with. I decided to tell a story of my hometown, Belgaum (Karnataka). After I wrote the script, I knew it would not be easy to find funding for this kind of film. So, we decided to shoot a small teaser and created a crowdfunding campaign. To our surprise, a lot of people showed their support and we raised a decent amount. But, it wasn’t enough to finish the film.” It was only when they approached producers with the rough edit of the project, that producer Vinay Mishra decided to help with the post-production: “And then, from there, things took off.”
The film will be released in three languages: Kannada, Hindi and Marathi. Speaking to us about the premise, Nalawade says he wanted to reflect on the political climate of the country, and especially his disputed town. “I was curious about how some people latch on to a cause and want to believe in it very strongly. To understand their sentiments and why they do what they do, I decided to explore one such character through this film.”
Having come this far with the project, the 35-year-old is now looking forward to narrating more stories and exploring other genres. This, he feels, is only the beginning. “Every filmmaker’s goal is to make their next film, and mine is no different. There are a lot of stories that I want to tell and my goal is to keep finding ways to tell them. I would like to explore other genres, too. I have already co-created an upcoming OTT original called Soup, and it is completely different from Follower. I’d also like to keep working with non-professional actors along with professional ones because that brings a certain freshness to the medium… The exchange of ideologies between the two brings out something magical on the screen,” Nalawade signs off.
