Showing posts with label Interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Interview. Show all posts
Prabhas Darling Interview
Monday, May 17, 2010
Prabhas has struck gold with his latest film Darling. He looked cool, modulated his dialogue, danced like a pro and overall entertained family audiences in this Karunakaran flick. We caught up with him, and here’s what he had to say.
Inspiration to do a family entertainer like Darling:
I try to do something different, and when Karunakaran’s told his story, I was into it. I clapped out after listening to the twist in the first half. I was so much into it. Karunakaran told me the full story and I knew this film was going to be good.
On transition from past action films to lover boy in Darling:
Though we try to do something different all the time, there are various other things that have to work for us. It could be the character or the director or script. Luckily all worked for me this time. I didn’t do any preparation or homework for this character. But I knew that the character in Darling is a lot smoother and sensitive than those in my previous films.
We knew right away that the East Godavari accent that worked in Bujjigadu, or Billa won’t work here. But we had to entertain the audiences. So I worked on my timing more! Also I improved my body language. I am glad it worked.
On First Half twist:
When I first heard the story there were no apprehensions at all. But when we started shooting we began to get doubts. But it was a good thing, as we worked harder. We knew that we were taking a risk with it, but when the first day reports came, I knew our efforts were appreciated. I guess working with the gut feeling works after all.
On the success of Darling:
I was in Mumbai, when the film was released. Though you get used to it, there are some nerves on the first day. I was glad to know that fans were celebrating. On the first day, when fans party it’s more than success. The fact that family audiences are turning out well is another good thing about the film. It makes you feel satisfied.
On his cool look:
My childhood friend Bhaskar designed the look for me in Darling. We tried to portray the character as a cool going guy. My young fans seem to have loved it completely.
About his dance:
We worked according to director Karunakaran’s plan. He had this vision on how to shoot each song, and we planned our dances accordingly. I completely trusted Karunakaran when he said that it will be his responsibility to add visual beauty to each song.
About music by G.V. Prakash:
Whenever I hear Neeve Neeve song, am surprised with the ability of G.V. Prakash. This tune reminds me of A R Rahman, and for a 23 year old to do it, it is quite appreciable. Though, as an afterthought, we did think that we should have given the audio another week’s time to give its due credit.
Darling’s most memorable moments:
I thoroughly enjoyed doing the second half, and doing the climax song was extremely pleasurable experience. Also for a fight scene, I was running for quite a few days together. It was tiring, but when you see the final product, you know it was worth it!
Working with the producer BVSN Prasad:
It is our second hit after Chatrapathi. He’s a really sweet producer. Now he’s more than just producer for me!
Working with the director Karunakaran:
Karunakaran is an extremely talented guy. He gives us a lot of freedom, and he explains his vision very well. In some situations I blindly followed him. When there is freedom and love, there is scope for good work. Karunakaran ensures complete freedom to the actor.
Working with Prabhu:
He is an extremely talented actor. Knowing that he is son of a great actor, and he himself being a wonderful actor I was in the beginning very apprehensive. But he is exactly like the character in the film - very lovable person to work with. Our timing worked extremely well. He is roundish, and I’m tall. Without him the father-son scenes wouldn’t have been so good.
Feedback from Uncle Krishnam Raju:
Peda nanna was quite happy. He said he liked the film and appreciated my timing. Coming from him those were quite some words!
On forthcoming films:
There are two films lined up. There is one with Dil Raju and Dasharath, which again is a family entertainer. Then there is another one with S.S. Rajamouli.
:- Here's from the Interview (Credits: 123telugu.com)
Inspiration to do a family entertainer like Darling:
I try to do something different, and when Karunakaran’s told his story, I was into it. I clapped out after listening to the twist in the first half. I was so much into it. Karunakaran told me the full story and I knew this film was going to be good.
On transition from past action films to lover boy in Darling:
Though we try to do something different all the time, there are various other things that have to work for us. It could be the character or the director or script. Luckily all worked for me this time. I didn’t do any preparation or homework for this character. But I knew that the character in Darling is a lot smoother and sensitive than those in my previous films.
We knew right away that the East Godavari accent that worked in Bujjigadu, or Billa won’t work here. But we had to entertain the audiences. So I worked on my timing more! Also I improved my body language. I am glad it worked.
On First Half twist:
When I first heard the story there were no apprehensions at all. But when we started shooting we began to get doubts. But it was a good thing, as we worked harder. We knew that we were taking a risk with it, but when the first day reports came, I knew our efforts were appreciated. I guess working with the gut feeling works after all.
On the success of Darling:
I was in Mumbai, when the film was released. Though you get used to it, there are some nerves on the first day. I was glad to know that fans were celebrating. On the first day, when fans party it’s more than success. The fact that family audiences are turning out well is another good thing about the film. It makes you feel satisfied.
On his cool look:
My childhood friend Bhaskar designed the look for me in Darling. We tried to portray the character as a cool going guy. My young fans seem to have loved it completely.
About his dance:
We worked according to director Karunakaran’s plan. He had this vision on how to shoot each song, and we planned our dances accordingly. I completely trusted Karunakaran when he said that it will be his responsibility to add visual beauty to each song.
About music by G.V. Prakash:
Whenever I hear Neeve Neeve song, am surprised with the ability of G.V. Prakash. This tune reminds me of A R Rahman, and for a 23 year old to do it, it is quite appreciable. Though, as an afterthought, we did think that we should have given the audio another week’s time to give its due credit.
Darling’s most memorable moments:
I thoroughly enjoyed doing the second half, and doing the climax song was extremely pleasurable experience. Also for a fight scene, I was running for quite a few days together. It was tiring, but when you see the final product, you know it was worth it!
Working with the producer BVSN Prasad:
It is our second hit after Chatrapathi. He’s a really sweet producer. Now he’s more than just producer for me!
Working with the director Karunakaran:
Karunakaran is an extremely talented guy. He gives us a lot of freedom, and he explains his vision very well. In some situations I blindly followed him. When there is freedom and love, there is scope for good work. Karunakaran ensures complete freedom to the actor.
Working with Prabhu:
He is an extremely talented actor. Knowing that he is son of a great actor, and he himself being a wonderful actor I was in the beginning very apprehensive. But he is exactly like the character in the film - very lovable person to work with. Our timing worked extremely well. He is roundish, and I’m tall. Without him the father-son scenes wouldn’t have been so good.
Feedback from Uncle Krishnam Raju:
Peda nanna was quite happy. He said he liked the film and appreciated my timing. Coming from him those were quite some words!
On forthcoming films:
There are two films lined up. There is one with Dil Raju and Dasharath, which again is a family entertainer. Then there is another one with S.S. Rajamouli.
:- Here's from the Interview (Credits: 123telugu.com)
Chitchat with Meher Ramesh About Billa Movie
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Director Meher Ramesh who earlier directed Kantri is all excited about his next venture Billa. After mulling over the suitable cast for many days he finally zeroed in on Prabhas for the film and Anushka in the lead role. The theatrical trailer released created huge expectations for Billa. In an interview, he unravels the story behind the making of Billa and ensures that this film would be the stylish Telugu film ever.
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The genesis of Billa
It was during the shooting of Vayassunami song for Kantri in Ramoji Film City, NTR asked me if I were interested watching Tamil Billa film. He got a print mailed from Chennai. He wanted to watch it because it was done by legend NTR as ‘Yugandhar’. He said that if we like the movie, we might remake in Telugu immediately after Kantri film. I loved the film, but opined that NTR might not suit the role at this stage of his career and told him frankly about it.
I still had the idea of remaking Billa. The same producer came up with the proposal of remaking it with Ravi Teja as hero. I watched the movie again with Ravi Teja in my mind. I modified certain scenes to suit him. Then I opined that a high budget film might not work out with Ravi Teja as hero. The producer will end up suffering for the kind of budget we ask for. Hence we collectively decided not to make the movie.
I got an offer to work with Prabhas. I told him another story and he didn’t look excited enough. I casually asked him if he saw Billa. I told him that it has all elements of commercial hits like Rowdy Alludu and Donga Mogudu which Chiranjeevi has done in his peak time of the career. He loved it and I told him the script changes. We need a comfortable producer who can spend lot of money at the same time who doesn’t pressurize us. Prabhas suggested that we should make it on his home banner Gopi Krishna Movies. I told him another script which is equally exciting. It would cost only 60% of what Billa would have cost. But Prabhas wanted to make Billa. We narrated it to Krishnam Raju and he loved it. I wanted Krishnam Raju to do the role of police commissioner. I wanted to capture the first combination of Prabhas and Krishnam Raju.
I did some changes in screenplay. I made Billa an out and out commercial entertainer. I visualized every shot before making the movie. We went to Malaysia and selected the required locations a month in advance.
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Casting
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Anushka: I knew Sweety (Anushka) even before she entered movies. It was me who introduced her to Puri Jagan for Super film. I told her that she is going to be paired up with Prabhas and I need her in best shape. She worked hard and when I met her after two months, she slimmed down a lot.
Hansika Motwani: I told Hansika that a slot done by Kareena Kapoor in Hindi Don is available and asked her if she is interested in doing that role. She trusted me and told yes immediately.
Namitha: I didn’t have Namitha in my mind for that character. I tried many new faces. Namitha asked me that she want to re-enter Telugu films with Billa film. She slimmed down for this role and we had a photo shoot before signing her.
Supreet: Supreet is highly impressive as Katraju in Chatrapati. He matched the masculinity of Prabhas in that film. I cast him as an associate of Billa in this film. He looks cool in black suits.
Rehman: Tamil actor Rehman did an important role as an associate of Krishnam Raju in this film. I noticed that he is also a perfectionist like Prakash Raj. He learnt each and every word of his dialogue before hand. He uttered all Telugu dialogues with no prompting.
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Choppers used in shooting action sequences
Most of the Indian and Bollywood films shot in Malaysia has William Wong as action director. But I have good tuning with Stun Siva. I employed Stun Siva as fight master for Billa and we took the help of William Wong whenever we required. We shot a chase that never came in Indian screen before. It will be like watching terrific chases in Bond flicks. We used choppers for 15 days. When we asked for 2 helicopters, producer granted us four. This credit should go to producer D Narendra and production designer Krishna. We stayed in Malaysia for 3 months at a stretch to shoot this movie.
Soundar Rajan shot Billa on Super 35 camera
I wanted to have either Sameer Reddy or Chota K Naidu for cinematography. But dates of both of them were not available. Not many people know about Soundar Rajan who worked as an associate to KV Anand in the past. He also worked for four forgettable Tamil flicks. He got busy in doing commercial ads. We wanted to shoot Billa with Super 35 camera. When I met him for the first time, we shared good vibes. We spoke for 5 hours about moviemaking. I signed him without looking at his work because I realized that he is extremely talented through our discussion. He is a friend of Vishnu Vardhan who directed Tamil Billa. We met Vishnu Vardhan and I informed him the changes I made in Billa script. He was impressed with it. Soundar is an excellent technician with amazing sense of using lenses. He is one of the reasons why Billa is made in less time with more quality.
Marthand K Venkatesh is a frank man
I used to send rushes from Malaysia for simultaneous editing to Marthand K Venkatesh. He said that Billa film has Hollywood styling to it. I like Marthand K Venkatesh because he is extremely frank and tells everything on your face. It’s always good to have such person in your team. He gives perfect logic whenever he finds fault in our work.
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Highlights of Billa
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1. Introduction of hero: Prabhas will be introduced with a magnificent bow and arrow episode. It is shot in typical Bond style.
2. Chase: There is one chase in this film which I think is the best among the chases done on Indian screen.
3. Without dupe: Prabhas done an extremely risky shot without dupe on a bridge in Lankavi island.
4. Climax: Climax of the film is shot in Malaysian international airport amidst 30 flights on the runway and tarmac.
5. Bommali song: This song comes as the last song in the movie. It is the most vibrant duet shot in six sets
6. Anushka: Anushka is going to be a huge asset to the movie.
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Prabhas will be a super hero of Telugu cinema after Billa
Prabhas had a personal trainer and he followed rigorous diet and fitness regime throughout seven months by staying away from temptations. Prabhas will be the super hero of Telugu cinema after Billa’s release. This film is sold for highest prices among Prabhas’s movies.
2:30 hrs movie
Billa is shot in 104 working days. We shot this film in unpredictable weather of Malaysia. The total runtime of the final cut is 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Shankar is my role model
Shankar is my role model and I used to watch all his films for at least 10 times. He mounts movie on a huge canvas without missing any of the commercial elements. He bundles nice social message in his films without appearing preachy.
Future projects
I have a commitment each with Aswini Dutt, Nallamalupu Bujji and Danayya. I will take a decision after the release of Billa. All these films will be done with big heroes.
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