Rebel, the much delayed ambitious project by acclaimed director S V Rajendra Singh Babu will finally hit the screens this week. The film starring Babu’s son Aditya and Sanjjanaa is the director’s only release after a gap of almost a decade. His last film as a director was Mohini, which released in 2006.
Speaking to City Express, the director, who currently holds the President’s chair at the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy revealed the reasons for Rebel’s delay. “While I was shooting for Rebel, I left for the US. It was basically a learning journey. I was able to grasp the latest techniques in graphics and other technologies of filmmaking. I even met James Cameron,” says Babu.
According to the director, back then, he realised that there are more things to learn around the world than just being behind the camera.
“I stayed in the US for two months and went on a Hollywood tour. I even went to Ceylon with the intention of doing a co-production with the government there,” he says
The director says that a subject like Rebel retains its freshness as it is about the corruption in the army, which is still prevalent.
“I have focused on how the army does not care about the soldiers’ welfare. Suhasini plays the role of an IAS officer who is the Defence Secretary and Aditya plays her son, who is an army commando. The film stresses on the fight for a solution and how finally one day the army will take over India. I have considered Delhi, Singapore and few other places as the prime locations for the subject,” he says.
Talking about the father-son combo in the film, Babu stated that he does not consider Aditya to be any different from other actors.
“I have worked with many good actors in the past. When I have handled actors like Dilip Kumar, Vishnuvardhan, Rekha, Hemamalini among others, handling my son was nothing special. There was no relationship maintained during the shooting. I was a director and he was an actor. Of course, at home, he is my son. He still has a long way to go,” says Babu.
As for future ventures, Babu says, “Cinema is in his blood and it will never die. Ours is probably the first family in Karnataka, working in the film industry since 1944. My father, mother, my sister and brother-in-law, son and daughter all are involved with films in their own way. There are lot of ideas about how to make different kinds of cinema. I have a few projects in mind which I will be announcing soon,” he signs off.