Ravichandran-starrer Dasharatha, directed by MS Ramesh, has Sonia Aggarwal making her comeback in Kannada after 15 years. Her last and only film was Chandu, which was released in 2002. The film also features Meghashree playing Ravichandran’s daughter with Priyamani playing a pivotal role.
Work for the film started on April 15 and is currently on floors with its first schedule. Ramesh has an interesting take on Dasharatha, which he reveals to City Express.
“This is a modern tale of Ramayana, but not about Seeta,” he says. “I chose to throw light on the life of Dasharatha’s other daughter Shanta, who married Rishyasringa.
It is a known fact that Seeta went through trial by fire because of Rama, Shanta too had faced a similar situation, and I have taken that as a reference for this film.”
The director has Ravichandran in Dasharatha’s character with Sonia playing Kausalya. While Meghashree plays the modern day Shanta, Priyamani plays a hardened person, much like Kaikeyi in Ramayana.
According to Ramesh, the tale of Ramayana is very much relevant even today, going by what women face every day.
“Why are only women put through trial by fire and not men? The underlying theme of my film is ‘respect women’,” he says. The film’s first schedule is to end on April 24.