Preetham Gubbi believes that film making is a game, and the first rule is to not treat it as a game, but stitch one around it. So, after Boxer, he is now exploring motocross racing with his next outing, Naanu Mattu Varalakshmi.
And just like Boxer, he is making the feel close to real having roped in six national champions, including a couple of them with international acclaim. The director has also involved C Vijaykumar, a professional motocross rider, and a six time national champion who has won International tournaments. Shooting a few sequences in Bengaluru from December 15, the film will sees two fresh faces -- Prithvi and Malavika Mohanan. the former being a grandson of music director, GK Venkatesh and the latter, daughter of ace cinematographer KU Mohanan. Along with them is Prakash Rai who plays a motocross trainer.
“The race track is getting ready behind Manyata Tech Park at Bhartiya City and Vijaykumar is helping us in getting the tracked designed. He is also arranging the best riders for us. They are equally excited to part of the film because a movie on motocross racing is rare in Indian cinema,” says Preetham.
Emphasising that it was necessary to bring in professional riders, he says, “If we don’t have experts riding, it will obviously not look authentic, since it is a tough sport and any cover up by the technical team will show upfront.”.
Apparently, Preetham also plans to organise a huge event in Sri Lanka, where he is looking to shoot the climax. “Two tracks in Sri Lanka are famous for bike rides. Vijay has a few contacts there and we are utlising their expertise,” he says.
According to Vijaykumar, who is currently on the job, when Preetham told him about the idea, he took him to moto cross racing and explained the necessity of bringing in actual motocross riders. “When he agreed, I roped in the current champion, Arvind KP along with Yuva, Prince from Delhi and rider Ishan from Sri Lanka. I am in touch with a couple of international riders as well.”
Vijay reveals that each bike costs around Rs 10 lakh and the makers have also planned to involve a few brands like TVS and Motul Oil, who are coming forward to support. “The budget for the motocross race might be around Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakhs. It is not a regular race where riders come, take part in the event and go off. When it comes to shoot, they have to get adjusted to the takes and retakes. We are yet to calculate the exact budget for these two events,” he says.
Interestingly, Vijaykumar is an actor himself, who made his debut in a Tamil film Kai, which was released last year. “I have signed another film with the same director and the shooting might start in four to five months. I am now glad that I will part of a Kannada film as a motocross racer,” he says.