Spark: From boardrooms to the big screen

Spark is Niranjan Sudhindra’s second major release as a lead after his debut Namma Hudugaru (2022), a romantic comedy set in a village. The actor was seen in a prominent role in the crime thriller Second Half (2018), starring Priyanka, Sudhindra’s aunt and Upendra’s wife.

Spark a bi-lingual investigative drama in Kannada and Hindi, is the first-ever production by GAP Studios, a movie house helmed by the Vashishtha family. The film revolves around a journalist (Sudhindra) who exposes a massive bank scam.

Sachin Basrur, who recently worked for the Raj B Shetty-Prajwal Devaraj starter Karavali, has composed the music. For close to three decades, Avinash Vashistha has been a part of India’s corporate, technology and media circles.

Spark marks the family’s foray into the film industry — both Ashish and his wife Garima, a pharmaceutical scientist, have been passionate about movies. GAP (Garima Avinash Productions) Studios origin story begins with Garima’s love for music.

As a teenager, she trained for seven years in Hindustani classical music, but she could not pursue her passion as a profession. In 2023, the creation of Kyoto, a short film, strengthened her resolve to return to the creative field and the result was Spark, where she has been involved in the casting, direction, music, cinematography and costume design, as well as production.

“Music and cinema were my first loves — long before I made a career in medical science. With Spark, I returned to my passion, not as a financier standing at a distance, but as someone building the film scene by scene, exactly as I once dreamt of doing,’’ says Garima.

Avinash says, “Storytelling has always been a passion of mine. Spark sits at the intersection of art and audience and gives me the chance to bring innovation to an industry we love as a family.” Spark is a collective family undertaking with the couple’s children Ankita, Amisha and Abhay playing their parts to make their mother’s movie dream a success.

Garima appears briefly as a judge in a courtroom scene, while the opening song ‘Shivaye’ has been rendered by her seven-year-old grandson Aveer Vashishta Shetty. Interestingly, Prem, the seasoned actor with over two decades of experience, is playing a cop with negative shades in the movie.

Popular actor Bhavana, known for her famous roles in Malayalam and Kannada, is essaying a lawyer. Spark is the second release of the year for Rachna, who shot to fame with the Love Mocktail franchise. She was earlier seen in the family drama Theertharoopa Thandeyavarige.