After debuting in Prakash Jayaram’s Siddhartha, Vinay Rajkumar is all set to work on his next film with director/actor Prem, who is back to direction after Jogaiah which released in 2011. Talking about his comeback film as a director with a relatively new talent, Prem says, “I had to do Jangamma with Shivarajkumar. Currently, he is busy with his commitments and I also got busy with my projects as an actor. Meanwhile, discussions were on with Raghavendra Rajkumar for the past three months and the family was keen that I direct Vinay. I am doing this project for them,” he says.
The news of Prem directing Vinay has been the talk of the town, which he says puts him under greater pressure. “How ever much I try to maintain a low profile, my projects still becomes news. Now, I feel that there is a lot of a responsibility on my head,” he says.
Prem is planning a mass subject for Vinay and has taken it up as a challenge to show the upcoming actor in a different light. “The story is ready and it is time I come up with the bound script and screenplay along with concentrating on the other aspects of filmmaking, before we go on floors from this June,” says Prem, who plans to release the title of the film at the midnight hour on April 24 (Dr Rajkumar’s birthday). “The title launch of Vinay Rajkumar’s film will take place in 30 districts at the same time and we are making elaborate plans for the same.”
Since Prem is going to showcase Vinay as a mass hero, the young actor will also be preparing himself and learning dance skills from Chinni Prakash. “He will also be interacting with Rohit Shetty’s team who will be giving him tips on fight and stunts. Since this film will be a mass action entertainer, I wanted Vinay to master all the skills, before we go on the sets. There will be a change in his personality as he will get a rugged look in my film,” says Prem.
Vinay Rajkumar’s three month stay in Mumbai
Vinay Rajkumar will be off to Mumbai for a three-month-long course, where he is all set to groom himself to be a better actor. Vinay’s father Raghavendra Rajkumar who was sending off his son to Mumbai told us, “An Actor Prepares is a grooming course founded by Anupam Kher, where Vinay will have a one-to-one class with industry experts. Fights and dance sequences keep changing with each film and a newcomer can’t learn everything at one go. With each story, the filmmaking techniques are improved. In An Actor Prepares, they will groom the artiste as how they should carry themselves. How they should digest a role and how to enact the scene in their style. This class will mostly be a solo act, where they will act alone for an hour. He will be learning from people like Chinni Prakash, Ram Shetty and other industry experts who have trained Ranbir Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan. He will also be meeting Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah during his stay.”
Raghavendra Rajkumar is particularly happy that his son planned this Mumbai trip himself. “We are not able to match up to this fast-forward world. It was Vinay and his friends who discovered this classes and it was his decision to go. We only thought grooming is just limited to dance and fight training. But he says that there is something more in the art, and he wants to get groomed for it. There are a lot of theatre groups who are getting close to parallel films and who will teach actors how to emote new characters. He is going there to acquire this knowledge. Vinay didn’t just want to be known as Rajkumar’s grandson, and he wanted to do something on his own, which I personally liked about Vinay,” reveals Raghavendra Rajkumar. “For all of us, Mumbai is like another film industry. There are lot of Kannadigas there. My brother keeps going for ad shoots. But, he did not want us to find a house for him. He has hired a flat on his own and will be there for three months with his friends. He wants to cook and live in Mumbai like all newcomers. He has learnt some cooking basics from his mother, which he will try it out during his stay. His college friends are playing a big role. This stay away from home will also help him to develop his personality,” says Vinay’s father.