Director Mansore, identified for hard-hitting social dramas resembling 19.20.21 (2023)and Act 1978 (2020), delves into the dynamics of relationships in his upcoming movie, Doora Theera Yaana. “This film wasn’t easy to make. At one point, I felt I should have stuck to my preferred genre,” he says with a chuckle. The movie has left him an admirer of administrators who sort out love tales.
Starring Vijay Krishna and Priyanka Kumar M, Doora Theera Yaana releases on July 11, 2025. “It’s a challenge to create the right mood on set for emotionally charged scenes. The actors must understand what the character is going through. Of course, the chemistry between the leads matters. As a filmmaker over 40, when I share my idea of a relationship with actors in their mid-20s, I worry that they might not be able to relate to it.”
Though he has an affinity in direction of exposing the system, Mansore likes to shock individuals, both with his selection of tales or narrative fashion. His movies, regardless of working within the business house, usually are not pushed by the template. His 19.20.21, the true story of a younger journalism pupil from a tribal neighborhood who fought for his constitutional rights, was narrated in a gritty, non-linear style. In Act 1978, a pregnant girl holds the staff and guests of a authorities workplace hostage. The film was a taut thriller with coronary heart.
Vijay Krishna and Priyanka Kumar M in ‘Doora Theera Yaana’.
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Special Arrangement
“I have experimented with this film as well,” he says. “Every frame will tell a story. There are several scenes that serve a metaphorical purpose. Kannada cinema had a certain sensibility from the 1960s till the 1980s. I have tried to maintain that sensibility through a visually evocative film.”
Doora Theera Yaana, Mansore says, is not a love story. “It’s a story about love. Before a couple gets married, there is a period of awaiting the big day. The partners fear talking about their expectations of each other during that time.”
Both of them have opinions on matters resembling monetary planning, financial savings and following one’s ardour, Mansore says. “But they don’t convey it to each other. My film is about those important conversations that can save a marriage,” he explains.
A nonetheless from ‘Doora Theera Yaana’.
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Special Arrangement
Doora Theera Yaana is a street movie, a style not often explored in Kannada cinema. “It’s not a typical road film. In Kannada movies, we romanticise the idea of a small town. Jai Shankar’s Shivammawas a welcome relief in that aspect. It shows women in villages jogging and exercising in sari. I have seen it happen.”
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This is one thing we’re lacking in Kannada movies, Mansore says. “We aren’t recreating reality. That’s not the case in Malayalam cinema. For instance, in the recent crime comedy Sookshmadarshini, women living in a locality in a Tier-2 city are part of a messaging WhatsApp group for gossiping. These are small aspects that make the drama between the characters relatable.”
To narrate a full-fledged drama to viewers with restricted consideration spans will likely be his greatest check, admits Mansore. “The pleasure of a three-second reel poses a big challenge to filmmakers. In Kannada, we don’t have film fanatics. So for me, the first-week audience matters. I have to keep them glued to the screen so that they are impressed and the positive response spreads.”
