Private Project

When Shankar Nag Comes Asking

Bangalore could be any other metropolis of India. The lives of the auto-drivers in the documentary could be survival stories of vulnerable millions in many big cities right across the world. The twist in Bangalore’s tale is Shankar Nag. No other city has an actor who died more than 20 years ago, still breathing through auto-ricksha windshields.
WHEN SHANKAR NAG COMES ASKING is an album of today’s Bangalore. In the race to become a ‘global’ city, the struggle is as much in holding on to the familiar as it is about embracing the new. In what ways does one seek the familiar, when the familiar is not the same anymore? How does Shankar Nag fit into this story about identity and belonging?

  • Sushma Veerappa
    Director
  • Kowdi
    Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Shankar Nag Kelkond Bandaaga
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 6 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    September 30, 2012
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    English, Kannada
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Project Cinema City
    Bangalore
    India
    November 3, 2013
    India premiere
Director Biography - Sushma Veerappa

After a Post-graduate diploma in Social Communications Media from Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai, Sushma joined the CIEDS Collective Here, she conceived and executed a film education programme for school children. Post this experience, she worked as Assistant Director and Scriptwriter with filmmaker M.S.Sathyu for 4 years. She began making documentaries in 1998.
As Producer / Director, her focus has been on documenting the work of grass root organizations working in Karnataka’s remote villages. Her films have been used as communication tools by these organizations to further engage with the people they work with. Her work encompasses a wide spectrum - about people’s co-operatives, leadership imaging as participatory research tool, bio-energy, training modules for blue collar workers, issues relating to, water, women and violence.
Her concerns with the city in transition led her to produce and direct her first independent documentary WHEN SHANKAR NAG COMES ASKING.
Her short film SHEELA GOWDA AT BATTARAHALLI CORNER was screened at the 13th IAWRT (International Association of Women in Film and Television) Festival.
Sushma is Founder Trustee of Vikalp Bengaluru, a collective which has been screening documentaries in Bangalore city since 2005.

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