Kanche

Kanche (transl. The Fence) is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language romantic war drama written and directed by Krish and produced by First Frame Entertainment. It stars Varun Tej, Pragya Jaiswal and Nikitin Dheer. Billed as Telugu cinema’s first World War II film, it was released on 22 October 2015 to positive reviews. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu, and Film Companion named it one of the 25 greatest Telugu films of the decade.

Story

In the late 1930s, Dhupati Haribabu and Sitadevi fall in love while studying at the University of Madras. Back in their home village, the social divisions of the time turn Sitadevi’s brother Eeswar, once Haribabu’s friend, into his bitter enemy. Years later, Haribabu serves as a captain in the British Indian Army in World War II, and his commanding officer is Eeswar.

Cast

• Varun Tej as Dhupati Haribabu
• Pragya Jaiswal as Sitadevi
• Nikitin Dheer as Eeswar Prasad

Development

While filming Vedam in Visakhapatnam, Krish saw a bomb dropped on the city by the Imperial Japanese Army preserved in a museum. He learned that more than 2.5 million Indian soldiers had fought in the war. He spent nine and a half months on the screenplay, with research teams in India and Italy, and called it his most ambitious project. Sai Madhav Burra wrote the dialogue, and Chirantan Bhatt made his Telugu debut composing the songs and score. Varun Tej modified his diction for the 1930s and trained with an army officer for the war scenes.

Filming

Shooting began in Hyderabad on 27 February 2015 and moved to villages in the Godavari region and to sets at Ramoji Film City. The war sequences were shot in Georgia, where the Georgia Military Institute supplied 700 guns, four tanks and a machine gun. The film was completed in 55 working days, 35 of them in Georgia, and wrapped on 6 July 2015.

Release and awards

The film opened on 700 screens worldwide on 22 October 2015 and, according to the source, did well commercially. Besides the National Film Award, it won the Nandi Award for Best Film on National Integration and the state Gaddar Award for Second Best Feature Film. It was screened at the All Lights India International Film Festival in 2016.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.