Director Shivamani turns hero

After a dozen notable Kannada films to his credit, director Shivamani now wants to be in front of the camera. Apparently, he has taken this decision after taking a look at the major dearth of heroes in Kannada cinema. But as a matter of fact, it has been a 15-year old dream of Shivamani to become a hero. When he came to Bangalore in the mid-eighties, he had the hopes of becoming an actor as he climbed the steps of Ravindra Kalaskhetra, a ‘home’ for many artists in Kannada cinema today. But circumstances made him a director, that too a good one. Thus now he feels he must give himself a chance to act as well. It was as if producer Sampathkumaran read his mind when he was contacted and announced Shivamani as the hero in his film titled Love You.

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Known for his technical excellence and novel ideas in films like Rajakiya, Golibaar, Shivasainya, Minuguthaare, Swaathi, Kubera and Agnisaakshi, it was proved that Shivamani was an all rounder.
A textile tycoon from Erode, Sampathkumaran is also making his debut as a producer for this Rs. one crore Kannada film.

Shivamani has chosen the Bangalore and Mangalore Highway for shooting and 50 per cent of the film would be shot here. Sea as the backdrop is a requirement for the film, says Shivamani. Anant Nag, Suhasini and Raghuvaran play important roles in the film. Known for his excellent techniques, Shivamani is bent upon on having DTS and Kodak rolls for the shooting. Already on the floors, Shivamani has plans to complete the film by January and release it by the Pongal festival.

Before signing the film as the hero, Shivamani made sure that his decision was right and confided in his wife Thulasi who is his critic at home and producer Ramu. Though Ramu was very encouraging, Thulasi asked, “Why do you want to become a hero at this age of your life?” It was only when Shivamani narrated the story that she was convinced. Shivamani recalled this in an exclusive chat with this correspondent recently at the Bangalore Press Club.

As a first step, posters of Shivamani in different get-ups was all over the town. For the costume and photography itself, the cost came up to Rs. one lakh.

Producer Sampathkumaran intended to rope in actress Shalini of Tamil films but she declared retirement from films after her marriage to actor Ajit. So now he has in mind Deepali of Nanna Preethiya Hudugi fame as the actress. Sampathkumaran wants to produce the folk tale of Jokumaraswamy and he is in touch with well-known director D. Rajendra Babu to mount the film.

Ravichandran going strong

Ravichandran has touched a Rs. two crore remuneration mark. The film Kodandarama which is a remake of the Malayalam film Thenkasipatnam, starring Ravichandran and Shivrajkumar, has given this new mileage and distinction to Ravichandran, the stylish actor of Kannada cinema. For direction, screenplay, lyrics, music, dialogue and acting in Kodandarama, Ravichandran is charging Rs. two crores, the highest in the 67 years of Kannada cinema as far as remuneration is concerned. Upendra and Vishnuvardhan follow next.

Ravichandran has launched his brother Balaji alias Ishwar in Preethsona Baa, a film with 22 songs at the cost of Rs. eight crores. Ravi is playing the lead in yet another home production Ekangi for which he has erected a Rs. 75 lakh magnificent set at Kanteerava Studios. Designed jointly by Ravichandran and Ashok Kumar of Kerala, the expenditure on the set is also the highest so far for a Kannada film. For 40 days, about 100 workers worked in erecting a huge hall, a bar, a table tennis room, two bedrooms and some more things. A car chase is planned in this particular set, says Ravichandran.

After parting company with lyricist and music director Hamsalekha with whom he has worked in 25 films, Ravichandran is also going very strong in lyrics. He firmly says that he does not need anyone’s assistance in penning lyrics and composing music. He began writing three years ago and has become very strong in his thoughts, he says. He is also working for 20 hours a day.

Yet another colourful project is a film Hrudayadinda with 90 songs. This will be a musical film with no talkie portion, states Ravichandran. He has also restarted the Ishwari Audio. He planned to have a live stage show in Hubli for the audio release of his brother’s film Preethsona Baa. The unique feature is that the cassette cover is in the shape of a heart. This maiden show would cost Ravichandran nearly Rs. 70 lakhs with a turn out of one lakh spectators. The reason for having the function in Hubli is that Ravichandran has a majority of fans at the twin cities of Hubli and Dharwad.
After four years of rigorous search, Ravichandran has found a heroine recently for his brother Balaji. Aarti Chabria, a Mumbaite with two films Lajja and Tumse Achcha Kaun Hai, has bagged a plum role in this Kannada film. What is notable is that Ravichandran has spent Rs. 40 lakhs so far in his search for a heroine.

For this different college campus love story, which is the home production of Ishwari Pictures, Ravichandran’s prestigious production house, he doesn’t have any budget limit. According to resources, there are chances that it would touch Rs. 6 crores. Nearly Rs. 2 crores have been spent on the song portions along choreographed by Chinni Prakash at a spacious residential school in Kumbalgodu and other places.

Ravichandran is a changed person today. He is not wary of journalists of late. He is also planning a quiz for journalists very shortly. He intends to bring film journalists to his film set at Kanteerava Studio. On the way, he plans to play four songs for them and they have to identify the film. The winner would be given a gift.

With four films on hand, Shakuni, Ekangi, Kodandarama and Preethsona Baa, the investment on Ravichandran is not less than Rs. 30 crore. At present, Ravichandran is sitting very comfortable as his Kanasugara is doing a pretty good business.

Kotigobba completes first schedule

The first schedule of Kotigobba, starring superstar Vishnuvardhan, was completed at Eagleton Club near Bidadi Industrial town about 60 kilometres from Bangalore. In this schedule, the climax and two songs were canned. A song “Vardhana Vishnuvardhana... “penned by Kalyan was canned along with actress Priyanka and 20 dancers. After shooting in Mysore and Ooty, the unit of Kotigobba which is the remake of Rajnikant’s Baasha will leave for Mumbai where the dynamic star Devraj will join the team. He plays a cop in the film.

Producer Babu is extremely happy with the way the shooting in progress. He has specially complimented Vishnuvardhan as he is working for 20 hours for the brisk completion of the film.
Director Naganna, known for action and sentiment films, is also contemplating on making a film on an issue of a woman, the hairline story for which he got from BBC news is materialising with some more additions.

Eagleton Club charges Rs. 1 lakh per day and is slowly getting popular. This is the third Kannada film to be shot here. Earlier songs were canned for Preethse and Sundarakanda.

12 year old film revived

The Kannada film Sundaraloka which was involved in a controversy between producer Gangadhar and actor Ravichandran 12 years ago remained in the cans after Rs. 82 lakh of investment, is now taking shape towards its release. Perhaps this is the only film in the Indian film history to take shape after 12 years. The rift between Gangadhar and Ravichandran who plays the lead role turned into nightmare for the producer. About 1.15 hours of the film was shot and edited prior to the rift. Blaming his luck, the producer lost all hopes of the film releasing. But now after 12 years, he discussed about the chances of revival of the film with actor-writer Mohan who suggested that the producer forget about the portions shot and chose a new cast of Naveen Mayoor, Aruna, Ramesh Pandit and proceed with the film. Gangadhar was immensely happy with the way Mohan worked on the available sources and appreciated him for making a difficult task easy.

Now Sundaraloka has been renamed Preethmado Hudugargella. It consists a mixture of two generations.

Premachandrama released

Ashwini Digital Recording Studio released their latest album Premachandrama consisting of eight love songs. Senior Press Relations Officer R. Nagendra released the album on a rainy evening recently at Bangalore Press Club.

This album is prepared with situations and a film could easily be made, informed L.N. Shastry, the music director of the album. The proprietor of Ashwini Digital Studio, Ramprasad intends to bring this album in a video format. “The ETV Kannada channel has been contacted for the telecast of the songs. We are looking young faces who are familiar with dance,” informed Ramprasad.

Aishwarya in Police Dog

Prasad, a senior editor with 65 films to his credit, is turning a producer under the banner of S.P. Films. Prasad has written the story and also does the editing for this film. Actress Lakshmi’s daughter Aishwarya and a well trained dog which figured in films like Nishyabda in Kannada and the Hindi film Dil plays a major part. S.S. David, known for action films in Kannada, is directing this film. He has also written the screenplay. Shivamaya scores the music for the songs penned by Keshavamurthy and Manjunath. Thriller Manju and Siddarth known for dare devil stunts appear in important roles.

Vijayalakshmi in Daddy No. 1

Inspired by the David Dhawan style of titling his films, director Bhavale has decided to name his murder mystery-cum-family drama Daddy No. 1..

The film is about a rigorous search of a father for his daughter who is missing for many years. Circumstances lead him to kill a young girl and then he learns that she is the daughter he has been searching all along. After a jail term, he is in a shock to meet a look alike of his daughter.

Action hero Charanraj plays the father. Earlier director Bavale had thought of Nana Patekar for the role but it did not materialise as Patekar insisted that the shooting be completed in a minimum of 100 to 120 days. When a Kannada film is finished in one third of that time, there was no point in forcing Patekar to do the film, felt Bavale.

Actress Vijayalakshmi returns to Kannada after one and half years. She is playing a double role. It is the story of reincarnation and it is her re-entry in Kannada after a good innings in Telugu and Malayalam films.

Producer Srinivas had earlier burnt his fingers after investing money in Suprabhata channel. He had lost around Rs. four lakhs. So he has asked director Bavale to complete the film within a stipulated remuneration.

Talented actor Ramakrishna and upcoming actor Mohan play important roles in the film, the muhurat of which was held at Waheeda Rehman Estate recently in Bangalore.

Anand P. Raj turns to comedy

Anand P. Raj, the Kannada film director known for 14 action films in his career is shifting his loyalty to a comedy now. The muhurat of the film Hendthi Andhre Hendthi was held at the Varaprada Sri Venkataramana Swamy temple in JP Nagar. Being produced by Shantharaj, Jayaraj and Sampathkumaran, the film stars Shashikumar, Charanraj, Shruthi and other comedy actors.

Tired of action films, director Anand P. Raj is making a comedy film for the first time as he needed a change in his career, he says.

Actress Shruthi, who will soon complete a century (apparently Kerege Haara, to be directed by her director-husband S. Mahender will be her 100th film) is quite happy to be doing the film. Actor-turned-MP Shashikumar is a worried man as his constituency is reeling under drought. He has given jobs to drought-hit farmers at the Rs. 49 crore road project. He is also contemplating on diverting funds meant for other purposes to satisfy the needs of suffering farmers in his constituencies.

Nagendra Sundarakrishna Urs, son of veteran Kannada actor Sundarakrishna Urs, is making his debut as the editor of this film. He is trained under his renowned uncle Suresh Urs in the editing department.