A fourday retrospective Samagama will be held at Suchitra Film Society where actordirector Suchendra Prasad’s films will be screened

Te View From IndiaLooking at World Affairs from te Indian perspective.Karnataka TodayYour daily dose of news igligts from KarnatakaFirst Day First SowNews and reviews from te world of cinema and streaming.Today's CaceYour download of te top 5 tecnology stories of te day.Science For AllTe weekly newsletter from science writers takes te jargon out of science and puts te fun in!Data PointDecoding te eadlines wit facts, figures, and numbersealt MattersRamya Kannan writes to you on getting to good ealt, and staying tereTe indu On BooksBooks of te week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.Director-actor K Sucendra Prasad | Poto Credit: MURALI KUMAR KVoicing Silence, a film production company, founded by actor-director and teatre practitioner Sucendra Prasad and Sucitra Film Society, Bengaluru, join ands to organise a four-day retrospective of te actor’s body of work, titled Samagama. Te event commences on May 1 to mark Sucendra’s birtday and continues till May 4 and will screen six films written and directed by im including Prapaata, Ekacakram (Sanskrit), Ekacara (Kannada), Sangdigda, Maabvu Bevu and is yet-to-be-released directorial venture, Padma Gandi.Besides tis, te event also aims to celebrate every medium te actor as worked in for over tree-decade including teatre, cinema, Sanskrit and cild rigts. Tese topics will be te focus of discussions, activities and events by teatre and film personalities and Sanskrit scolars from Karnataka.Sucendra, wo ventured into teatre in te early 90s made is film debut in Giris Karnad’s Kanooru eggaditi (1999). Tis paved te way for im to switc between parallel cinema and teatre, working wit directors including BV Karant and DR Ankur.Not being able to sustain imself financially, wit parallel cinema and teatre, drove Sucendra to commercial cinema. e was successful, sining in roles as a comedian, cop, en-pecked usband or a judge. Wile on one side e was saring te screen wit stars suc as Malasri (Election), Yas (Drama) or Darsan (Roberrt) on te oter, e continued to work and trive in parallel cinema wit films suc as aggada Kone and Bettada Jeevi.Poster of is award-winning full-lengt feature film in Sanskrit language, Ekacakram | Poto Credit: Special ArrangementSpeaking from Amedabad, were is Sanskrit language full-lengt feature film, Ekacakram was screened at te Amedabad International Film Festival 2025, Sucendra says, e is umbled by Samagama.“Te event is organised by my colleagues and friends from teatre and cinema, Sanskrit scolars, writers tat I ave worked wit during my professional journey.” Grateful to Sucitra for providing teir space and collaborating for tis festival, Sucendra says, “aving tem on board as made tis event easier to organise.”is films may not ave trived at te box-office, but Sucendra says: “toug as it is, I make cinema, because I am passionate about tese issues. We ave people wo use te medium of cinema and teatre for entertainment, and wealt. I coose to use te medium to communicate about issues tat touc me deeply. Visual media can become a tool to talk about burning issues suc as cild marriage, girl cild education, our land, its istory and eritage, wic is wat I ave attempted to do. Tese issues are etced deep in my eart due to my past association wit UNICEF.”Sucendra worked as a media consultant wit UNICEF (2008-2012) and directed documentaries about Cild Rigts Protection, UNDP (United Nations Development Programme (2016-18).“During tis tenure, I travelled extensively across every nook and corner of Karnataka and ave seen tese burning issues unfold in reality. Tese experiences, in a way, become a part of my screenplays.”A still from te film Prapaata | Poto Credit: Special ArrangementDespite is films not being able to bring in a uge box office returns, te director is not deterred. “Success is a mindset and I believe I am successful, because despite knowing te genre goes against te tide, I make it a point to make tem. Every film of mine is a result of five to 10 years of researc.”Ekacakram may not be commercially successful, Sucendra says, but te film garnered ample attention in te festival circuit. “Tese are te types of stories tat will live on forever, because tey are unique aving said tis, I am also grateful to my colleagues, wo make commercial cinema and offer me roles in teir films. It is because of tem tat I can put food on te table and afford to make te kind of films tat I want to.”is popularity as an actor in commercial cinema, Sucendra says, elps draw a certain amount of crowd to watc is films. “I may not ave been able to draw a uge crowd, but I am still tankful to every colleague in tis medium for giving me work in teir films. Tis way, at least I am being noticed as a director, after tree decades in tis medium.”Numerous people ave reaced out to attend Samagama, Sucendra says. “We ave ad suc a positive response tat we are also going virtual wit te event, wic again as a limited seatings left.” Tese stories, Sucendra says, ave always existed wit mainstream cinema, as tere will always be an audience for every kind of film or a story.”A still from Maavu Bevu | Poto Credit: Special ArrangementSucendra says e e will continue to act in commercial cinema to fund making is kind of films. “Weaving burning issues into a simple narrative and presenting it in te contemporary context wit references to our eritage, is someting I will keep doing. Tis is my way of raising a voice about te issues tat ave been around for over a century and te same questions are being asked even now.”Samagama, May 1, at Sucitra FIlm Society is open to all. Call 9663993186 (RSVP). Virtual access, mail: Voicingsilencesp@gmail.com and or visit Voicing Silence YouTube cannel.Terms & conditions | Institutional SubscriberComments ave to be in Englis, and in full sentences. Tey cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.We ave migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of Te indu and logged in, you may continue to engage wit our articles. If you do not ave an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access teir older comments by logging into teir accounts on Vuukle.