QUEEN'S ROAD: Director Udaya Prakash who has rechristened himself as Vijay Hampali is set to release DK this week.
The film, starring Prem, Chaitra Chandranath and Rishikumara Swamy, is supposed to be a satirical comedy which comes with its own set of controversies.
From the time the director had registered the title DK, it was rumoured that the film is based on the Karnataka politician D K Shivakumar, currently the state Energy Minister.
He inspired the title
Despite its suggestive title, DK doesn’t tell a single person’s story, its director maintains. “Shivakumar hadn’t become the minister yet when I registered the title,” he says. But, it turns out, the politician did inspire the title and lead character of the film.
When the minister heard of the title, he called Vijay. “Though I refused to reveal the story, I assured him that the film wasn’t about him. He was empathetic to creative freedom and said, ‘I know I’m not the only one who has DK as his initials. But make sure that there is nothing said that will defame anyone,’” he narrates.
And from that moment on, Vijay wanted people to associate the title of the film with Shivakumar.
Silk Shiva
After all, the filmmaker admits, he has tried to project Shivakumar’s persona and characteristics on Prem, who plays the part of DK.
“He is as daring as D K Shivakumar. The mannerisms and costumes of the character are also inspired by the minister,” he says.
According to what Vijay has gleaned from people of Shivakumar’s village, the minister was quite the dandy in his younger days. “When he used to go to SJR College, he always wore khadi and silk shirts. In fact, he was nickednamed Silk Shiva,” says the director, adding that this too was a prospective title. “But then I thought DK suited my story better,” he says.
Talking of touts
Vijay says that the film is a mass-appeal love story set against a political backdrop.
“I focus on touts who hang around government offices, offering to get your work done. These are people who haven’t studied much and have not a single penny in their pocket. But there is no limit to their attitude,” he says.
So, through Prem, Vijay believes he’s telling the story of one among a hundred touts.
Prem not just an actor
According to Vijay, content is king in DK. And choosing Prem as the protagonist was crucial to bringing this out.
“Prem comes from a humble background and doesn’t have the trappings of a mass hero -- he isn’t the action hero, the comedian or the chocolate boy. This film wouldn’t have worked with a commercial hero. We wanted an unexplored actor,” he says, adding that the character is also unpredictable, and has as much in common with its actor as with the minister.
Heroine plays hero
While he got Sunny Leone to debut in Sandalwood with a song in his film, Vijay says it’s really Chaitra who will steal the show.
“The hero of the film is the heroine. The film basically runs around her from first frame to the last,” he says, going on to laud her performance. “Though these are the early days of her career, she has looked upon this role as a challenge and carried it off well.”
Chaitra was an international netball player and represented India against Sri Lanka. The director heard that she had slapped her coach once, ‘for some reason’. “She is a bold girl, and that’s why I wanted her in my film. I took three months to track her down and get her to agree because I knew that she was the right choice,” he adds, confident that she will become popular after this flick.