Bimba (film)

Bimba (The Image) is a 2004 Indian Kannada-language children's drama film directed by Kavitha Lankesh and starring Baby Raksha, Daisy Bopanna, Prakash Raj and Sampath Kumar.

The film follows a rising child artiste Indu, who gets exploited into the glamorous world of cinema. This film won two Karnataka State Film Awards: Best Female Child Actor for Raksha and Best Screenplay for Lankesh.

Production and release
The film began production in 2002 with Raksha playing the lead role of a child actor. This film marked the debut of Daisy Bopanna and Sampath Kumar, who play Raksha's parents. Jayasri Devi was to produce the film before Lankesh herself decided to produce it. Prakash Raj, Ramesh Aravind and Prema were to play guest roles in the film although Ramesh and Prema did not feature. Hamsalekha was originally supposed to compose the music but he was replaced by Isaac Thomas Kottukapally. Despite being Lankesh's third film, it ended up releasing after her fourth film Preethi Prema Pranaya (2003).

Reception
A critic from Deccan Herald wrote that "There are also many films earlier which focus on the darker side of filmdom. But, Kavitha Lankesh’s Bimba stands out among them as it focuses on child artists in cinema. Perhaps, it may be the first Kannada film to do so". A critic from indiainfo wrote that "Overall BIMBA is a film that makes one ponder about the problems faced by child artists".