MUMBAI: Bollywood taking inspiration from South Indian movies is not unheard of. There are a myriad of movies that have been remade in Bollywood style from Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada. One such forthcoming film is ‘Dear Dia’.
The news of the film Dear Dia (remake of the Kannada superhit ‘Dia’) is already covering the spotlight. The cast of the film includes Mihika Kushwaha, Ujjwal Sharma, and Pruthvi Ambaar. The film is directed by KS Akshoka, who was also the director of the original film.
Producer Kamlesh Singh Kushwaha shares his insights on the film:.
Was it difficult to shoot the Hindi version of the already hit South Indian film?
No, it wasn't that tough to shoot the film, as the director of the film already knew the script of the film by heart.
We have seen multiple love triangle films. How do you think that Dear Dia is different from others?
The treatment given to the film is different. The climax is unusual from the typical happy endings of Indian cinema. It will be difficult for audiences to judge things as the story moves further.
Tell us about your experience working with the new cast on the same script.
It is the first movie for Mihika and Ujjawal, so I, as a producer, was a little worried on the first day of shooting, but things went easily.
Would you like to share any memories from the set of Dear Dia?
Once, during the winter shoots, we shot for almost 16 to 18 hours, and had to stop the shoot because of extreme fog at around 3 am. Next, we were shooting at Medanta Hospital in Lucknow. Mihika and Ujjawal were seriously injured in a scene, so the makeup that the artist did was so real that it felt as if they were really injured in an accident. Both the actors had bandages rolled over their body parts, blood oozing out of the plaster and a lot of marks on their bodies. When the actors were roaming the hospital, hospital staff and other people asked them to sit and relax as they thought they were seriously injured, but they did not know that both of the actors were in the character's ensembles.
Do you think that this Dear Dia will make it to the list of superhit films?
It was a super hit movie in the Kannada language with no songs and we have added four beautiful songs, sung by iconic singers like Jubin Nautiyal, Shankar Mahadevan, Palak Muchhal and Jyotica Tangri. And the movie is going to blast.
Since Dear Dia is an adaptation of a successful film, did you feel any pressure or burden while making the movie?
Since the shoot was done for more than 50 days, we found it difficult in managing all the artists’ dates. But we survived.