Naveen Sajju’s acting debut entertains audience at Mysuru premiere

Playback singer and music director Naveen Sajju’s acting debut, Lo Naveena, premiered at a multiplex in Mysuru on Thursday evening and received a thumbs-up from the audience, which included his friends and well-wishers.

Shot mostly in a rural setting in and around his native village of Ballekere in Srirangapatna taluk near Mysuru, the movie depicts village life, its people and their daily routines with authenticity. It also blends clean comedy with romance to keep the audience amused and entertained throughout.

Ms. Varsha Giridhar, a techie-turned-actor who plays opposite Naveen, blends comfortably into the rural backdrop, while most of the supporting actors appear to have been hand-picked from villages for their specific roles.

Naveena’s friends and their antics in the movie are relatable not only to present-day youth, but also to earlier generations. The cinematography captures the rural atmosphere — whether it is a cattle shed, a temple or a village house — in an unvarnished manner. The Kannada dialect, too, is unmistakably one from rural parts of Mandya and surrounding regions.

Coming about three years after the release of Orchestra Mysuru — a film purportedly inspired by his struggles as a singer — Lo Naveena is described as the culmination of Naveen Sajju’s acting dreams.

Senior theatre personality Suguna M.M. of Niranthara Foundation said Naveen was smitten by the singing bug when he was young. He began his singing career after a long struggle to find opportunities in orchestras that performed by the roadside during festivals and other occasions in Mysuru.

He later made a name for himself as a singer in the Kannada film industry, with his earthy voice featuring in the soundtracks of several movies. But his interest in acting drew him to the theatre activities of Niranthara Foundation in Mysuru. After participating in several plays and sharpening his skills as an actor, Naveen has now forayed into acting, said Mr. Suguna.

Naveen, who was present at the premiere along with the rest of the cast and director Dhanurdhari Pavan, said feedback from the Mysuru audience was very important to him as the city was where he grew up and began his singing career in orchestras.

“If the audience in Mysuru likes it, I think I will win in the rest of Karnataka as well,” Mr. Naveen remarked.