Yet again, actor Darshan has signed on a film based on a historical event. The actor, who pulled off the role as of legendary warrior Sangolli Rayana, an army chief for the Kingdom of Kittur, is now set to enact Gandugalli Madakari Nayaka.
The film, directed by Rajendra Singh Babu, is based on B L Venu’s book, Madakari Nayaka, who was the last ruler of Chitradurga and belonged to the Nayaka community. It will be produced by Rockline Venkatesh. The actor, who will soon hit his 50th film says his love goes back to historical subjects is also because he gets to learn about history through the films.
“I don’t have a thorough knowledge of history. But I get to learn about historical heroes through my films,” he says, adding, “When producers feel that there is a historical role I can take up and I will only if it fits the bill.”
But it was senior actor Srinivas Murthy, who initiated this role of Madakari Nayaka. “He persuaded me to take up the film. In fact, he even convinced Rockline Venkatesh about it,” he reveals.“Today’s generation talks about animated creatures like superheroes like Spiderman and Batman. But our own soldiers and warriors are forgotten. When I was growing up, at least we used to watch mythological serials like Ramayana and Mahabharata, but today’s kids don’t know much about it. At least such historical films will enlighten them on freedom fighters,” he says.
As he will soon start to prepare for the role, Darshan will first refer to the book to get a first-hand understanding of the characters before getting into the script reading, “I remember reading three books when I played Sangolli Rayanna’s character. While the two books mentioned that he was not married, the third book had a different version. A lot of research goes into playing such characters,” he says.
There’s a thin line between playing mythological and historical characters in terms of body language and dialogues. For the historical role, will be undergoing a complete physical transformation. “I’m looking at it as a challenge,” he says.
The project is likely to go on floors in 2019 and the muhurath date will be fixed once everything is in place.
“I will start with Tharun Sudhir’s film early next year and will get going with Gandugali Madakari Nayaka as and when it gets ready. Historical films take time, and a lot of preparation will have to go into it before and after. The script work is currently is going on and needs ample time and it cannot be finalised in one reading. As of now, this will be one of the films, I have taken up and will go on floors in 2019,” Darshan signs off.