Srinidhi Bengaluru and Dheekshith Shetty on ‘Video’: It’s a found-footage horror thriller for a new-age audience

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Director Srinidhi Bengaluru (left) and actor-producer Dheekshith Shetty. | Photo Credit: RAVICHANDRAN N

At a time when the Kannada film industry’s success rate is at an all-time low, it takes considerable guts to experiment with content. Filmmaker Srinidhi Bengaluru and actor-producer Dheekshith Shetty , however, are confident that their attempt will pay off.

For young cinephiles who hold director Srinidhi in high regard for his new-age storytelling, another unconventional attempt from him hardly comes as a surprise. After all, this is the filmmaker who began with a time-travel film ( Blink, 2024) and followed it up with a fantasy web series ( Jerax ) about a Xerox machine that clones humans. His latest, the found-footage horror Video , once again ventures into unfamiliar territory.

The movie, which hit the screens on September 11, 2026, aims to revive a dead genre in Kannada cinema. Back in 2013, KS Ashoka’s found-footage Kannada horror drama, 6-5=2 had fired the imagination of young moviegoers who were just getting hooked on the irresistible magic of social media. Ashoka, a fan of The Blair Witch Project (1999), had adopted the path-breaking film’s found-footage style.

Despite the massive success of 6-5=2, the genre is yet to take off in India and is still considered a risky proposition. “The popularity of 6-5=2 is a blessing in disguise for us,” says Dheekshith, who is turning producer with Video. “At least, it has prepped the audience for the style of filmmaking.” That said, the actor feels comparing the two movies too closely would be unfair. “Nani (Telugu actor) once told me. Arnold (Schwarzenegger) wears a black jacket in The Terminator (1984), and Shah Rukh Khan wears a similar-looking jacket in DDLJ (1995) . Can both movies be the same?”

“Love stories have been presented to us in different ways. We can’t say that all of them are the same,” adds Srinidhi, who opens up about the complex process of filming Video. The film follows a group of youngsters who venture into a haunted school in the interiors of Odisha, hoping to boost the visibility of their already-viral YouTube channel.

“We asked our actors to make regular vlogs to get comfortable with shooting and creating content. We also did a two-day pilot with different cameras, including a GoPro and a Sony camera, asking them to explore locations that appeared haunted.

“While visiting similar locations with my technical team, I realised we couldn’t use traditional lighting for the film. I observed how a flashlight creates visible rays when dust particles rise in the air, which became an important visual element. The complex shots also required extensive blocking, rehearsal, and an acting workshop. As we progressed, the actors grew more comfortable and developed a great camaraderie.”

Dheekshith points out the technical challenges of making a film like this. “I would often wonder how the editor, Sanjeev Jagirdar, would sift through hours of footage to pick the best visuals.