Dayal Padmanabhan to make a documentary on Kere Kamegowda

On Monday, Kannada filmmaker Dayal Padmanabhan announced one of his upcoming projects. As it turns out, it is not a film, even though Dayal has been busy writing scripts during the lockdown. What he is all set to do is make a 20-minute documentary about Kere Kamegowda, the now octogenarian shepherd, who, over many years created as many as 14 water tanks in and around Kundinibetta, the area where he takes his goats and sheeps to graze.The film will be made in Kannada and English
"I had read about Kere Kamegowda, but realised that there is no other documentation about the amazing feat that he has achieved. Once the idea to make a documentary about him struck, I reached out to him to see if he would be okay. He agreed and we now plan to head there in early July for a three-day shoot. We will speak to Kamegowda about how the idea to create tanks came to him and how we went about it. Although illiterate, Kamegowda not only figured out how to create tanks, but how to interlink them as well. He has also planted as many as 2,000 trees in the area. Such is his contribution to the eco-system of the region that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about him in his recent radio address,” explains Dayal, who will direct and produce the documentary called The Good Shepherd. The documentary, he adds, is his attempt at giving this inspirational tale an international audience.
Meanwhile, as far as films go, Dayal is set to get his next, Ombatthane Dikku censored today. He is yet to take a call whether to wait for theatres to reopen or to follow the current trend and look for an OTT release.