Filmmaker Rajesh Touchriver says it was the public's contribution that facilitated the release of the three National Awards winning Telugu-Malayalam bilingual "Naa Bangaaru Taali", which deals with human trafficking, in cinemas Friday.
Malayalam version of the film titled "Ente" released recently to critical acclaim.
"Naa Bangaru Talli" won National Awards for best feature film, best background score and special mention for actress Anjali Patil.
"We struggled to release the film. The awards didn't quite help us find a distributor. People liked the film but nobody was interested in releasing it. We needed Rs.15 lakh for the release, so we went for crowd-funding," Touchriver told IANS.
Inspired from a true story, "Naa Bangaaru Talli" also features Siddique and Ratha Sekhar Reddy.
The film has also made rounds to Trinity International Film Festival and Indonesian International Film Festival.