Natesh Hegde’s Kannada film ‘Vagachipani’ (Tiger Pond) wins Special Jury Prize at Spirit of Fire Festival

Vagachipani premiered at the Berlin International Festival in February 2025. The film is produced by popular Hindi filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Singapore-based producer Jeremy Chua and Ranjan Singh (Cannes selection Kennedy).

“It feels amazing to be invited to the festival and get the Special Jury Prize,” said Ranjan Singh. “We’re thrilled that the film is being acknowledged well and Natesh could meet Kusturica and discuss about the film.”

Ranjan spoke about the film’s selection to the festival. “They watched the film after the Berlin announcement happened. So we got the invite when we where in Berlin for the premiere. Peter Shepotinnik was the programming Head. He is in love with the film,” he said.

Set in Mavinakatta in Sirsi, a small town located in the Western Ghats, Vagachipani is touted to be a crime drama exploring the nefarious confluence of faith, caste, and political power. The movie stars Malayalam actor-director Dileesh Pothan, seasoned Kannada actor Achyuth Kumar and Gopal Hegde, father of Natesh.

“I told Kasturica he is one of the reason for me to become a filmmaker,” said Natesh about his interaction with the Serbian filmmaker. “He smiled and said ‘thank you brother’ in his peculiar voice.”

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“I was asked about my relation with this land. I said, I relate to the country through the filmmaker and writer from the land. In my case, its Tarkovsky (Andrei) and Dostoevsky (Fyodor). It’s a strange feeling to visit a place for the first time and feel like you know the place already. Its not the knowledge about the geography of the place. It’s beyond that,” explained Natesh, who made his feature film debut with Pedro, which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival.

Talking about the response to his film at the festival, Natesh said, “A lady in the audience said my characters felt like characters from Dostoevsky novel. I am leaving the place realising how even if we are thousand miles apart as countries, our suffering are perhaps the same.”