Dinesh Baboo perhaps stands first in the list of artists who have oceanic talent and yet is nowhere in the minds of public. People have heard Maniratnam, Ram Gopal Varma and Bhalu Mahendra. Its sad that hardly people know this name Dinesh Baboo – a filmy craftsman of a classic caliber who can be compared to any of the legends mentioned above or perhaps much more in a way. This article is a deep reverence to this artist, to expose a shadow (if not the great realness in him which is not easy to tap) of his artistry and his expensive taste he has outpoured.

Idhu Sadhya, Suprabhatha, Hendthigh Helbedi, Amruthavarshini are paradigms of his creative forte. Dinesh is an exceptionally brilliant craftsman in that he not only pens the script, screenplay and story, but is also one-man who manages the whole show of making the film in its completeness from editing to cinematography to special effects. You call him a Story Writer or Director or Cinematographer or Editor or Art Director or Graphics Animator or Costume Designer – Dinesh fits each of these like a glove, with professionalism iced to the brim. He is a complete filmmaker like the legendary Satyajith Ray and embraces control of a movie in its entirety; that’s one of the key factors why all his movies have a unique shade, a singular taste, posh creativity and crisp fragrance – morphing into a real treat for movie buffs.

One more special attribute of this extraordinary artist is his versatility in defining genres and translating them into reality. From a thriller like Idhu Sadhya, to a comedy like Hendthigh Helbedi to family drama like Amruthavarshini to a film on ghosts like Kanakaambari to his latest children film Magic Ajji, Dinesh has demonstrated outstanding caliber in the profession of cinema. I am tempted to reiterate that each of these movies (and all others in his humble filmography) is completely crafted by Dinesh alone – from Conception to Writing to Direction to Cinematography to Art Direction and Editing.

A Malayali by birth, its interesting to make a note that though Kannada is not an alien language, Dinesh is NOT well conversed in Kannada language. Yet most of his milestones come from his great works he has contributed to the Kannada film industry. Dinesh stepped into the shoe of cinematography and morphed as a director as he expanded his talents. In his inception days, Dinesh was more known (and is still honored) as a classic cinematographer. His photographic talents are vividly seen in his Malayalam movies such as Dhruvam, Commissioner, King, Ullasa Poongattu that won him critical acclaim for his brilliance in cinematography. Cinematography was the germinating talent of Dinesh that later morphed and spearheaded into every segment of cinema.

It was in the year 1988, this spectacular classic called Idhu Sadhya was made and I remember how the press heralded this movie even before its release. The movie had a specialty in that it casted a host of eight popular Kannada actors (and actresses) of those times including Anant Nag, Shankar Nag, Srinath, Prabhakar, Revathi etc and the whole movie was centered in one single location – A drama theatre. The drama theatre becomes a character itself as the movie progresses and the whole movie circulates in and around the drama theatre. Idhu Sadhya was weaved on a shoe-string budget of fifteen lakhs and demonstrated exceptional brilliance in direction, script, screenplay, cinematography and art direction. Idhu Sadhya was a classic thriller of its kind those days (and even to this date), not just in the segment of Kannada or Indian cinema, but a trend-setting paradigm genre to international cinema – in that the movie was inspired by a Hollywood filmmaker Michele Soavi and remade as Bloody Bird in English. Idhu Sadhya was also the first film from Indian cinema that grabbed the honor of entering the Guinness Book Of World Records for shooting and making the whole movie in one-go within 48 hours. Such was the honor that emanated from this timeless piece of art - Idhu Sadhya.

Suprabhatha is yet another example of how the genius in Dinesh came up with a story that revolved around a single character (once again), this time – a Petrol Bunk. Woven again on a shoe-string budget with just three characters – Vishnuvardhan, Suhasini and the Petrol Bunk, Suprabhatha not only highlighted Vishnuvardhan as a great actor (proven yet another time in his career), but once again set a new trend, a new genre in cinema, which is still untapped even to this date. Suprabhatha was a huge box-office blockbuster and will always be remembered as one of the best films made in cinema.

I can endlessly go on expanding the virtues and brilliance of each of Dinesh’s films, but will stop with this last (but best) masterpiece of Dinesh – Amruthavarshini. Though the basic ingredients such as shoe-string budget, just three characters, brilliant cinematography and art direction goes without saying, the real plus point of Amruthavarshini comes from the genre itself and the chillingly penned script and dialogues. The state of vacuum one enters when love breaks, the psychic-mind that haunts a sick vagabond, the intellectual plots and sub-plots, the great mathematics of psychology and guilt, mind-blowing performance of Suhasini and Ramesh, classic allegories with Mahabharatha and the storyline, crisp and moving dialogues are some of the earthly parameters of this timeless movie. There is so much life in this movie that if one doesn’t get moved after watching it, one is not gifted to understand cinema (or life).

Dinesh Baboo has a unique taste in conveying the aesthetics of cinema. His favorite colour combination is Red-n-White and you can see the houses, art direction filled with this combination in most of his films. The contrast comes out brilliant. In all of Dinesh’s movies, one thing that deserves a mention is the concept and how this concept translates into cinema with such a low budget. That’s Dinesh’s undisputed forte.

It’s extremely disappointing to have realized Dinesh has not been well recognized in the industry. It’s very sad to note that Dinesh doesn't have a single National Award to his credit, whose timeless classics like Idhu Sadhya and Amruthavarshini are beyond any awards anyway (nonetheless).

Dinesh is one filmmaker I would love to work with if given a chance. If there is a social concern for art, I would one day like to meet Dinesh and host a festival of all his gems to make sure people revisit his masterpieces and experience the unique thrill. I wish Dinesh Baboo a wave of good luck in his endeavors and that his talents are more nationally and globally recognized.

Sreesha Belakvaadi
sreeshabv@yahoo.com

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