# Lucia (ಲೂಸಿಯ)
**Lucia** (ಲೂಸಿಯ) is a 2013 Kannada-language psychological thriller written and directed by Pawan Kumar, starring Sathish Neenasam and Shruthi Hariharan, and the first Kannada feature film to be completely crowdfunded.[1](https://kannadamovie.github.io/lucia/) Released on 6 September 2013, it won the Audience Award at the fourth London Indian Film Festival and is credited with helping to open [Kannada cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/kannada-cinema) to independent, experimentally financed filmmaking.[2](https://m.rediff.com/movies/report/south-slide-show-1-lucia-an-indpendent-kannada-film-funded-by-common-people/20130806.htm) • [3](https://bangaloreinternationalcentre.org/event/looking-back-on-lucia/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 6 September 2013, Kannada, U certification, runtime 2 hours 16 minutes[4](https://in.bookmyshow.com/movies/bengaluru/lucia-/ET00013854) |
| Writer and director | Pawan Kumar, whose debut as director was *Lifeu Ishtene* (2011)[2](https://m.rediff.com/movies/report/south-slide-show-1-lucia-an-indpendent-kannada-film-funded-by-common-people/20130806.htm) |
| Lead cast | Sathish Neenasam as Nikki/Nikhil, Shruthi Hariharan as Shwetha, Achyuth Kumar as Shankaranna[4](https://in.bookmyshow.com/movies/bengaluru/lucia-/ET00013854) • [5](https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2013/Sep/07/too-avant-garde-for-gandhinagar-514229.html) |
| Music and cinematography | Poornachandra Tejaswi (music), Siddharth Nuni (cinematography)[2](https://m.rediff.com/movies/report/south-slide-show-1-lucia-an-indpendent-kannada-film-funded-by-common-people/20130806.htm) |
| Financing | First completely crowdfunded Kannada feature; Rs 5 million (Rs 50 lakh) raised within 27 days of the April 2012 blog appeal[1](https://kannadamovie.github.io/lucia/) • [6](https://www.rediff.com/movies/report/south-kannada-film-lucia-to-have-a-nationwide-release/20130826.htm) • [2](https://m.rediff.com/movies/report/south-slide-show-1-lucia-an-indpendent-kannada-film-funded-by-common-people/20130806.htm) |
| Economics | Cost the equivalent of $78,000 USD to produce and generated $900,000 USD in revenues[7](https://digest.iimb.ac.in/2021/05/frugal-innovation-digital-effectuation-development-case-lucia/) |
| Awards | 2014 Filmfare Awards South: Best Director (Pawan Kumar), Best Supporting Actor (Achyuth Kumar), Best Male Playback Singer (Poornachandra Tejaswi, for "Thinbedakammi")[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2358592/awards/) |
## Spoilers
### Story
The film follows Nikki (Sathish Neenasam), an insomniac who works as an usher at a single-screen theater in Bengaluru run by his mentor Shankaranna (Achyuth Kumar). On a sleepless night he buys an orange pill called Lucia from a street-side dealer, who promises it will give him quality sleep and make his dreams come true. The pill takes him into a dream world in which he is a movie star adored by audiences, where he falls for Shwetha (Shruthi Hariharan), a young actress; in his waking life he is drawn to a girl who works at a pizza chain.[5](https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2013/Sep/07/too-avant-garde-for-gandhinagar-514229.html) • [9](https://www.filmibeat.com/kannada/movies/lucia/story.html)
The narrative runs in two parallel tracks, a real track and a dream track, and the film distinguishes them visually with black-and-white and color footage. It opens with Nikki lying comatose in a hospital while police investigate and a detective from Mumbai traces the case to the Lucia capsule, and the two tracks converge toward an unexpected ending.[5](https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2013/Sep/07/too-avant-garde-for-gandhinagar-514229.html) • [10](https://tv9kannada.com/entertainment/sandalwood/10-years-of-lucia-movie-director-pawan-kumar-talks-about-re-release-in-this-interview-mdn-661859.html) The Film Bazaar 2013 catalog framed the premise as the question of whether the grass on the other side is really green or a mirage, with the thin line between dreams and reality disappearing where the tracks meet.[11](https://films.wavesbazaar.com/media/2508/viewing_room_2013_catalogue.pdf)
## Crowdfunding and production
**Rejection and a blog.** Pawan Kumar, previously a screenwriter and the director of *Lifeu Ishtene* (2011), found that established production houses would fund the film only if he made creative compromises to a script he considered too different from traditional storylines. In early 2012 he set up a blog called Project Lucia, posting only the synopsis and a proposal: if he raised Rs 5 million (Rs 50 lakh), he would release the film online rather than theatrically.[2](https://m.rediff.com/movies/report/south-slide-show-1-lucia-an-indpendent-kannada-film-funded-by-common-people/20130806.htm) • [7](https://digest.iimb.ac.in/2021/05/frugal-innovation-digital-effectuation-development-case-lucia/)
The appeal worked faster than he expected. Within 27 days he had Rs 5 million (Rs 50 lakh) from contributors around the world, and the campaign drew more than 30,000 blog visits and about 800 inquiry emails, each of which he answered personally; he raised around $8,000 USD in the first three days.[2](https://m.rediff.com/movies/report/south-slide-show-1-lucia-an-indpendent-kannada-film-funded-by-common-people/20130806.htm) • [7](https://digest.iimb.ac.in/2021/05/frugal-innovation-digital-effectuation-development-case-lucia/) A study by Rahul Dé of the [Indian Institute of Management Bangalore](https://www.edgepedia.org/indian-institute-of-management-bangalore) and N. Ravikumar counts the film among cases of frugal innovation and digital effectuation: it cost the equivalent of $78,000 USD to produce and generated $900,000 USD in revenues, with digital technologies used across marketing and distribution as well as fundraising.[7](https://digest.iimb.ac.in/2021/05/frugal-innovation-digital-effectuation-development-case-lucia/) The New Indian Express put the final budget at Rs 4.5 million (Rs 45 lakh), a majority of it crowdsourced.[12](https://www.newindianexpress.com/bengaluru/2023/Sep/06/ten-years-on-lucia-set-for-re-release-2612002.html)
The production itself was improvised. At the London festival screening, a technical fault nearly canceled the show; Kumar ran to the projectionist's room with the film on his laptop and played it from there. "We would face problems constantly and would find innovative ways to resolve them," he told The New Indian Express.[12](https://www.newindianexpress.com/bengaluru/2023/Sep/06/ten-years-on-lucia-set-for-re-release-2612002.html)
## Release and reception
**Festival and theatrical release.** Lucia premiered at the London Indian Film Festival and won the Audience Award there.[1](https://kannadamovie.github.io/lucia/) • [2](https://m.rediff.com/movies/report/south-slide-show-1-lucia-an-indpendent-kannada-film-funded-by-common-people/20130806.htm) Despite the festival recognition, distributors initially shunned the film in [Karnataka](https://www.edgepedia.org/karnataka); PVR then took it under its Director's Rare banner and released it on 6 September 2013 across [Bangalore](https://www.edgepedia.org/bangalore), Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, Delhi and NCR, with English subtitles. It was the first Kannada film in Director's Rare and the first Kannada film to have a countrywide release.[6](https://www.rediff.com/movies/report/south-kannada-film-lucia-to-have-a-nationwide-release/20130826.htm)
The film ran in theaters for over 100 days and won awards for its screenplay, direction, and performances.[3](https://bangaloreinternationalcentre.org/event/looking-back-on-lucia/) At the 2014 [Filmfare Awards South](https://www.edgepedia.org/filmfare-awards-south) it won Best Director for Pawan Kumar, Best Supporting Actor for Achyuth Kumar, and Best Male Playback Singer for Poornachandra Tejaswi for the song "Thinbedakammi"; it also received SIIMA nominations for Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Cinematographer, and a GCC Puraskar Media award for Best Critically Acclaimed Feature Film.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2358592/awards/) Kumar said he was disappointed that the film received no mention in the 2014 National Awards.[13](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/kannada/movies/news/Lucia-to-be-screened-at-Melbourne-Film-Festival/articleshow/33903706.cms)
**Legacy.** The film has been described as a game changer in the Kannada industry and a marker of the zeitgeist of the Kannada independent cinema movement, credited with ushering in a wave of alternate filmmaking and experimental stories.[3](https://bangaloreinternationalcentre.org/event/looking-back-on-lucia/) • [12](https://www.newindianexpress.com/bengaluru/2023/Sep/06/ten-years-on-lucia-set-for-re-release-2612002.html) It was also one of the first Kannada films to have shows across cities in India.[12](https://www.newindianexpress.com/bengaluru/2023/Sep/06/ten-years-on-lucia-set-for-re-release-2612002.html) For its tenth anniversary it returned to multiplexes across Bengaluru on 6 September 2023, by which point it had achieved cult status.[12](https://www.newindianexpress.com/bengaluru/2023/Sep/06/ten-years-on-lucia-set-for-re-release-2612002.html)
## References
1. [Lucia – First Kannada Film Produced by Audience (official site)](https://kannadamovie.github.io/lucia/)
2. [Lucia: An independent Kannada film funded by common people, Rediff.com Movies (6 August 2013)](https://m.rediff.com/movies/report/south-slide-show-1-lucia-an-indpendent-kannada-film-funded-by-common-people/20130806.htm)
3. [Looking Back on Lucia, Bangalore International Centre](https://bangaloreinternationalcentre.org/event/looking-back-on-lucia/)
4. [Lucia (2013), BookMyShow](https://in.bookmyshow.com/movies/bengaluru/lucia-/ET00013854)
5. [Too avant garde for Gandhinagar, The New Indian Express (7 September 2013)](https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2013/Sep/07/too-avant-garde-for-gandhinagar-514229.html)
6. [Kannada film Lucia to have a nationwide release, Rediff.com Movies (26 August 2013)](https://www.rediff.com/movies/report/south-kannada-film-lucia-to-have-a-nationwide-release/20130826.htm)
7. [Frugal innovation and Digital Effectuation for Development: The Case of Lucia, The IIMB Digest (June 2021)](https://digest.iimb.ac.in/2021/05/frugal-innovation-digital-effectuation-development-case-lucia/)
8. [Lucia (2013) – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2358592/awards/)
9. [Lucia: Story, Preview, First Day Box Office Collection, FilmiBeat](https://www.filmibeat.com/kannada/movies/lucia/story.html)
10. [10 years of Lucia movie: Director Pawan Kumar talks about re-release, TV9 Kannada (5 September 2023)](https://tv9kannada.com/entertainment/sandalwood/10-years-of-lucia-movie-director-pawan-kumar-talks-about-re-release-in-this-interview-mdn-661859.html)
11. [Film Bazaar 2013 Viewing Room catalogue: Lucia](https://films.wavesbazaar.com/media/2508/viewing_room_2013_catalogue.pdf)
12. [Ten years on, 'Lucia' set for re-release, The New Indian Express (6 September 2023)](https://www.newindianexpress.com/bengaluru/2023/Sep/06/ten-years-on-lucia-set-for-re-release-2612002.html)
13. [Pawan Kumar disappointed that Lucia didn't win a National Award, Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/kannada/movies/news/Lucia-to-be-screened-at-Melbourne-Film-Festival/articleshow/33903706.cms)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Kannada films of the 2010s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license