When Tharun Sudhir brought Darshan on board for a cameo in his debut, Chowka, little did he know that in his next, the Challenging Star would play a full-fledged role. In fact, Tharun admits that having Darshan in the film meant extensive preparation. Interestingly, Darshan’s screen name in Chowka was Robert, which later became the title of Tharun’s second film. But Tharun says that the title Roberrt was named so, only because it suited the film’s story. “It’s not because of the character’s popularity though,” the director clarifies.
With Darshan playing the hero, Tharun’s responsibility has only doubled. “Chowka released in February 2017, after which I took two years for my second because I knew this was going to be bigger and better. And I needed preparation time. In a way, I was not cautious, but I was excited at the opportunity of helming a project for a superstar. Darshan fit the character perfectly, which got me more enthusiastic,” he says.
Conditions apply
As the project begins, the makers of Roberrt have already laid down certain conditions. The film’s pooja will take place today, and the shooting will begin tomorrow, which happens to be Akshaya Tritiya. The director has strictly banned use of mobile phones on the sets, which have to be placed 50 meters away from the location. This rule applies to both artistes and technicians. “Without mobiles, we are sure that artistes will be able to focus better,” he says.
Secondly, unnecessary pictures or videos will not be captured and let out to the public. This will make our sets a professional setup. “A few MNCs companies have introduced this policy, hoping that data won’t be leaked. We also felt that we should include some corporate ethics,” says Tharun, adding that fans can still come and meet the star and watch the shooting process. “However, they will not be allowed to take photographs,” he says.
The makers have also signed a non-disclosure agreement with the technicians on these matters. “This is to ensure that there is no leak of any kind of matter during the shooting,” he explains.
Besides Darshan in the lead, this emotional-action drama produced by S Umapathy has brought on board two dialogue writers - Chandramouli and K L Rajashekar. We hear that they are yet to finalise the music director.