Ayana takes a close look at the priorities in the life of a professional

If the story of a film is steeped in reality, the first thing that comes to mind is arthouse cinema. That’s a notion that the team of the upcoming Kannada film, Ayana, is looking at dispelling. Directed by newbie Gangadhar Salimath, who, until not long ago, was a software professional, Ayana explores the life of a young executive-turned-entrepreneur from the perspective of his personal and professional relationships, and the ups and downs in each of them.
“Ayana is a Sanskrit word that means road. It also implies the course of the sun. In that sense, the title of this film relates to the journey of life of our hero, Aditya, played by Deepak Subramanya, tracing his days as a happy-go-lucky bachelor, courtship, marriage and turning entrepreneur. But there’s another element that is at the core of this story and that revolves around Aditya and his friends and how he prioritizes things in his life? Will family and career take precedence and push his friendships to the backburner? This is what we have attempted to explore in this film,” says the director.
In keeping with the realistic approach of the film, Gangadhar adds that the songs, for instance, are all montages that drive the narrative forward, and that the focus is on the protagonist’s career ambitions. “Normally, when we talk about start-ups, it’s the 2% who’ve achieved success who are highlighted. No one talks about the other 98% and that’s where Ayana comes in,” he signs off.