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Karavali offered no such cushion. Besides directing, Gurudatha has also backed the film under Gurudatha Ganiga Films, VK Films, and Suram Movies. “It all depends on how badly you want to tell a story. A film like Karavali is difficult to pitch to a conventional producer. Commercial films have their own market, but story-oriented scripts don’t always find takers. If you believe in your story enough, you have to carry that responsibility yourself,” says Gurudatha, who embraced this risk willingly. “Films that break genres have given filmmakers courage. Every time you attempt something audiences haven’t experienced before, there is risk.”

It is this desire to attempt something unfamiliar that led him back home. Born in Kundapura, Gurudatha says Karavali grew out of childhood memories and years of observing the traditions of coastal Karnataka. “I strongly believe every film must begin with the story, even before the vision, the actors or the investment. I’ve been working in cinema since I was 16, and experience eventually teaches you that originality matters.”

He believes the biggest misconception about the film is that it is simply about Kambala. “People know Kambala through those 15 seconds of the race. But what happens before the buffaloes reach the track? The relationship between people, animals, faith, conflict and tradition fascinated me. That unseen world became the story,” says the filmmaker, who clarifies that his intention was never to explain Kambala but to immerse audiences in a culture rarely explored on screen. “I want viewers to enter this world as outsiders. It should feel like walking into a village jatre for the first time. There should be curiosity, emotion and discovery.”