AW hen Mogg i n a M a n a s u hit the s c r e e n s in 2008, a small-screen actor began to cast a huge shadow in Sandalwood. Yash was reborn to stardom. As he celebrates his 31st birthday tomorrow, the actor, who recently tied the much celebrated nuptial knot with Radhika Pandit, is looking forward to start the year with Prashanth Neel’s KGF.
The much hyped Kannada film, made with a huge budget, is now all set to go on floors sometime this month. City Express spoke to director Prashanth about the uniqueness of the film that makes it one of the most anticipated movie even before going into production. “The film is set around the 1970s and we are creating sets resembling the period in Badami and near Kolar.
We will be camping there for the next four to five months. We took almost a yearand- a-half to research the subject and several people were involved. The direction team alone consists of seven people,” says Prashanth while adding that the period is just a backdrop and main s e l l i n g point of the film will be the drama, which is irrelevant of the time.
“The film is bigger than the sets and the backdrop,” he says. Speaking about choosing Yash as the lead, Prashanth says that the script chose him. “Not just Yash, but the script also chose the producer and the director. But the budget was a constraint for a film of this scale and I even remember telling the producer that I have something which is not feasible for Sandalwood and the film will work for Surya in Tamil,” he mentions. But when the producer Vijay Kiragandur of Hombale Films persisted on making the film and asked who would best suit the character from the Sandalwood actors, Prashanth could not think of anybody el s e other than Yash.
“I h a d seen a certain spark in Yash when I watched Googly,” he says. Although Prashanth informs that he took time because of preparation work and Yash opted to go for Masterpiece, patience has resulted in making the movie finally a reality. “We have a big cinema in hand and we want to recreate time in all its grandeur,” he says.
As of now, the only established face in the cast is Yash while the makers are yet to approach Anant Nag and Ramya Krishnan along with Achyuth Kumar for bigger roles. “The main cast will have over 15 artistes. We are bringing in a few new faces with a makeover suiting the 70s period,” Prashanth says and adds that the team is geared up to shoot the film in the hottest places during summer. KGF featuring Srinidhi Shetty will have Bhuvan Gowda’s cinematography and music by Ravi Basrur.