Ring Road (film)

In an interview with The Indian Express in December 2013, the director Priya Belliappa said that the crew of the film mainly consisted of more than 18 people including associates, most of whom made their first outing with the film. Both alumni of Film and Television Institute of India, the film was a first for cinematographer Reshmi Sarkar and director Priya Belliappa. The crew also included producer Ranjini Ravindra Das, editor Maryann D'Souza, music director Vani Harikrishna. The rest of the crew including the costume designer, dialogue writer, choreographer and art director, she said, was formed through friends and acquaintances, most of who were spread across India.[1][2]

For the female lead role, over 500 girls were auditioned with the team finally zeroing in on ten. Following this, Altmash Shakreen, who previously had appeared in advertisements was chosen to play the lead role of Khushie, in May 2014.[3][4] Another debutant, Sagar Puranik was signed to play the role of Shubha's (Khushie's) boyfriend.[5] Considering that the film was the first in Kannada language to have been made by an all-women crew, most actors in the film worked for free. Vijay took a remuneration of ₹1 for his role. Making a cameo appearance in a song, actor Prem Kumar, reports said, gave the director ₹101 as a token of appreciation and good luck. Playback singing for the song was done by actor and film director, Sudeep, who also worked for free.[6]

Initially titled Ring Road Shubha, the makers faced objection from Central Board of Film Certification (CFBC) citing guidelines "which prohibit using names of any known person with or without their permission." Shubha was said to be a direct reference to Shubha, who was involved in a murder of her fiancée in 2003, and on which incident the film was said to be based. The Regional Censor Officer Nagendra Swamy said of it, "The guidelines are clear that you cannot make references to any known person without their permission." Following this, the title of the film was changed to Ring Road Suma.[7][8] The title was changed to Ring Road Suma in January 2015, with a tagline Sumala Kathe (Suma's story).[9] In June 2015, makers facing objection from Karnataka Film Chamber Of Commerce (KFCC), finalised on the title Ring Road with the tagline omitted.[10]