My intention is to entertain

Shreyas Kabadi cannot be dismissed as another techie-turned-filmmaker, for his plan was always to enter the film industry, and getting an education in engineering was a means to secure basic knowledge in how film technology works. A graduate in computer science, Shreyas says that his intention is to entertain people — be it as an actor or director.
“I began my filmi journey as an actor in the 2015 film Tapasvi, and Sarvasva is my first film as a director.My only intention is to entertain people. If I manage to make some money, I am ready to turn producer as well,” says Shreyas.
Having no film connections, Shreyas, the son of a professor, was researching ways of getting into the industry after he finished his engineering. He did a few courses in acting and filmmaking, and even assisted on a few films. “I used to keep an eye out for auditions and got a break as an actor in Tapasvi. My acting in that film was very real and not OTT, but it didn’t strike a chord with audiences. After the movie released, I took a break and worked in a bank as an applications developer for over a year. I knew that my next film had to be one that would send out a message, but be entertaining as well. I had 2-3 concepts and was thinking about which one to direct. A friend told me that audiences these days expect something different, so I zeroed-in on Sarvasva,” he says.

Shreyas roped in Bhupinder Pal Singh Raina, who had worked in a few short films, as the DOP of Sarvasva. “I hired him because he’s talented. We worked together for 2-3 months and prepared a list of what we have to do. Since we are both new to the industry, we did a lot of homework,” says Shreyas. Others who then came onboard were music director Sridhar V Sambhram, and lyricists Kaviraj and Jayanth Kaikini.
Working with such an experienced team was a learning experience for Shreyas. “It was great. I gave an exact chart of my concept, with locations and the type of music I required to Sridhar sir. I didn’t know the jargon, so initially, there were some hiccups, but we were able to smooth things out in time. It was easy working with them as all the seniors are very encouraging of new talent,” says the actor-director, signing off.