Director Guru Deshpande’s obsession with tigers reflects in his films’ title too. After having named his last film Raja Huli, starring Yash, the director is now going with Paddehuli as the title for his next. “I always felt that the tiger is an animal that is unpredictable, and whose behaviour has appealed to me. I had used a similar characterisation of Yash in Raja Huli,” he says.
Paddehulli will be the director’s sixth film in his career which spans a decade. Having distributed around 40 films in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, he is a director who has worked in various departments of film industry.
Guru’s film comes at a time when filmmakers are considering getting rid of songs altogether or reducing the number of tracks. With Shreyas playing a rockstar in Paddehuli, the film has 10 tracks, music scored by Ajaneesh Loknath. “Since this is a story on a middle-class boy’s musical journey, songs play a vital role in our film. The character responds to everything through songs, which are poetic. We have considered poems of various famous authors, including Baduku Jataka Bandi written by DVG. Kalabeda Kolabeda - Basavana’s Vachana. BR Lakshman Rao. Heli hogu kaarana, KS Narasimhaswamy, Ninna Premada .. GP RajaRathnam, Henda Hendathi, as songs in our cinemas. These were the poems we learnt in school, and we are sure that it will connect with the audience, which will be a plus point in the second half,” he says.
Despite Shreyas Manju being a newbie, Guru says launching him is different from launching any other newcomer. This, since he comes from a family associated with cinema. However, at no point did he feel the pressure. “Raja Huli was a film made under K Manju’s banner. The film was a hit, and as a producer he always had confidence in me. He has watched the rushes of Paddehuli, and has liked it. This film will give Shreyas a good foundation to his career,” he says.
The film, with a huge star cast, including Ravichandran, Sudharani, Puneeth Rajkumar, Rakshit Shetty will see Yogaraj Bhat playing a strong character. Paddehuli also sees Guru’s son, Tanmay Deshpande playing the childhood version of Shreyas.
Similarities between Ravichandran’s Premaloka and Shreyas Manju’s Paddehuli
Ravichandran is the son of producer N Veeraswamy, who made his directorial debut with Premaloka The blockbuster film of the late 80’s comprised 10 songs. Likewise, debutant Shreyas, is also a producer’s son. He will play the role of a rockstar, with ten tracks, in the film. While Ravichandran’s Premaloka had the support of Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh and Prabhakar, Shreyas’s film, Paddehuli has the presence of actors Ravichandran, along with Puneeth Rajkumar and Rakshity Shetty.