Mangaluru : Coastal flavour ‘Ondu Motteya Kathe’, a Kannada film, is ready to hit screens across the state on July 7. The highlight is its  director and also its producer having their roots here, with Mangaluru accent of Kannada forming the crux of dialogues.

Addressing media persons here on Saturday, Pawan Kumar of ‘Lucia’ fame whose Pawan Kumar Studios has associated with Mango Pickle Entertainment in producing the film said, “Initially, it will be a theatrical release along with multiplexes in the state. Gradually, it will be released in multiplexes in other metros like Chennai, Pune, Chandigarh among other States, followed by Australia, Singapore and other countries in phases to enable movie buffs worldwide.”

Kumar said the film has already opened to a good response at film festivals abroad, with the recent screening held at Indian Film Festival, London. Prior to that, one show was screened in Chicago, Dallas and other States in USA. It was also screened during the Indian Film Festival held at New York in May.

“Mangaluru accent Kannada is the highlight of the movie. Unlike most of the films which had a smattering of the coastal style of speaking the language only for comedy scenes, it is used extensively in the film,” he said.

Raj B Shetty, a former RJ from Mangaluru, who is playing the lead role besides handling direction department, said before commencing the shooting, audition was conducted to scout for talents who speak Mangaluru accent Kannada, bald headed and also subtle in appearance. When none could meet the demand, Raj, also a bald, decided to take the plunge and acted in the lead role. ‘Motte’ in local parlance in Kannada is used to identify bald headed people, as Raj will be addressed as in the movie.

Shetty, who was earlier associated with Big FM and Red FM, had a tryst with films as he started with a short film. However, ‘Ondu…’ is his maiden full length film.

Producer Suhan Prasad of Mango Pickle Entertainment, for whom it’s his second movie as a whole, after ‘Rang’, a Tulu flick, said, “It’s not just a flick, but a message to others that equal minded people from the coast could also make a movie.”

Initially, when the movie went on floors, it was planned with a low budget with restricted release in undivided Dakshina Kannada. Later, Pawan Kumar who learnt about the movie, saw the unedited portion and evinced interest in partnering with the project taking the budget up to Rs 1 crore’.

Music director Midhun Mukundan was ecstatic over good response to the movie with four songs. The songs have also topped charts in music channels, he added.

Amrutha Naik, who is making her debut with the movie, has acted in teleserials like ‘Yashodhe’ and ‘Shantham Papam’ (a recreation of crime stories).