Director ‘Mansore’ with actor B Jayashree on the sets of ‘Aramane’
Kum. Veerabhadrapp’s acclaimed novel Aramane has been adapted into a television series. Kannada channel DD Chandana (Doordarshan) launched a serial with the same name. National award-winning filmmaker Mansore is the director of the project, with theater veteran B. Jayashree playing an important role.
The series marks the return of the famous literary adaptation in DD Chandana. In the past, Girish Karnad has made film adaptations of Poornachandra Tejaswi’s Chidambara Rahasya, Shantinath Desai’s Om Namo and Devanur Mahadev’s Kusumbale as serials on DD Chandana.
A rare experiment
“I consider Aramane to be one of the rarest experiments in Kannada literature,” Mansore told The Hindu. The Nathicharami (2018) director said that DD Chandana had invited National Award-winning filmmakers to suggest novels that could be adapted for the small screen. “A committee has been formed to review the applications and approve my interest to make Aramane a daily teleserye,” he said.
Aramane is a historical novel set in colonial Ballari with British administrator Thomas Munro. Highlighting the struggles of marginalized voices, the novel is appreciated for its realistic portrayal of 19th century rural society. Kum. Popularly known as Kumvee, Veerabhadrappa explores the life, culture and conflicts of the working class. Located around the Ballari district, Aramane combines folklore with British-era modernisation.
Magic realism
“During the talks with Mansore, I told the director to try to make the serial closer to reality,” Kumvee told The Hindu. “It’s an epic story with elements of magical realism. So it’s going to be challenging for the makers to adapt as it is. They might have to make some compromises, but the idea is to tell the story in an engaging way.”
Echoing Kumvee’s thoughts, Mansore says his aim is to connect with the masses without diluting the essence of the novel. “It’s a 700-page complex novel. It mixes history, mythology and fiction. We tried to simplify the plot by breaking it down into a few tracks and focusing on the main characters.”
Mansore described the challenges of adapting Aramane: “It’s a 200-year-old story. So it’s not easy to find a house or a set that captures the time period. We had to work on a costume design that represents the era.”
Kumvee said he is curious to see how viewers interpret the series. “In any adaptation, the director takes the thread from the original story and creates his script. Ultimately, the audience has full freedom to judge the page-to-screen translation,” he said, adding that it is important for the television industry to provide quality entertainment in a mainstream setting.
Set in Ballari
Explaining why the novel is unique, Mansore said, “We have had novels based on Mysuru, Dharwad, Kalaburagi and Malenadu. But a popular work with Ballari as the backdrop is rare. For me, Aramane is as important as Kusumbale. The serial is an important step in the small Kannada space.”
Based on the Sahitya Akademi award-winning novel, the serial is currently telecast on DD Chandana from Monday to Friday at 7:30 PM.
Published – 20 March 2026 22:17 IST
