Cricket and cinema have always maintained a relationship, on and off-screen. And so it was not surprising that when actor Mohan decided to go behind the camera, he chose cricket as his subject. His upcoming Kannada film, Sachin Tendulkar Alla, is about a 13-year-old autistic kid, played by Snehith who is a big fan of Sachin Tendulkar.
“The story revolves around the boy wants to play cricket with normal kids, which is virtually impossible as none of the schools wants to admit him,” says Mohan, adding, “Cricketer Venkatesh Prasad is part of the film and plays a coach and sees to it that the child finally gets to play cricket. Expect a Lagaan feel in the second half of my film.”
Snehith trained at Abhinaya Taranga for 15 days to learn the body language of an autistic child and got some tips from the director himself. “We recently had the film’s muhurath. I was waiting for Venkatesh’s dates, who joined us from 17th. I was particular to have all of them together to make the announcement about the film,” says Mohan.
According to Mohan, Venkatesh is thoroughly enjoying his on-screen stint. He says, “I am confused, whether he is a cricketer or an actor. He had a tough time on day one, but after that he has been doing great. He and Suhasini have been friends for long and they share a comfort zone on-screen which is a plus point. Sudharani is glad to be part of the project and plays the role of a friend to Prasad.”
About Suhasini, Mohan says that the film marks her return to Kannada. “I was supposed to start the movie two years ago when I had narrated the story to Suhasini. She was among the first ones to be onboard. She plays the role of the sister to the child and her screen age is around 42. Her ultimate goal is to make the society accept the autistic child. Of course, I am not making a documentary on autism. The film has a message but is made more on commercial terms,” he says.
Meanwhile, the actor and director has got a verbal nod from cricketer Srinath to be part of the film and he plans to rope in more Karnataka cricketers. “I am also doing my bit to pull in the God of cricket, Sachin, at least for one shot and Prasad has promised to confirm,” he says.