Director B M Giriraj’s long-delayed film, Mythri will finally see a theatrical release with producer NS Rajkumar gearing up to release it in the month of February. Rajkumar who is currently in Chennai taking care of the re-recording (which is being done by Ilaiyaraaja) says, “We understand that the film has taken longer than expected but some things are not under our control. Ilaiyaraaja was unwell for five months and we had to wait until he recovered. I also believe if the content is good, the release date doesn’t matter. Today, a film like I took three years to make while Mythri only took one and a half years that too because of other delays. I guess the film was destined to release in 2015,” he says.
While Rajkumar says Mythri is a family entertainer, director Giriraj feels lucky to have a dream cast in his film. “I was fortunate enough to get stars like Mohanlal, Puneeth Rajkumar, Atul Kulkarni and music director Ilaiyaraaja together, which will not possible once again. It was challenging to work with all this people,” he says.
While Mohanlal plays a DRDO scientist, Atul Kulkarni an IPS officer, Puneeth Rajkumar plays himself in the film. “The actor who plays the superstar will be known as Puneeth Rajkumar in the film and an incident brings Mohanlal, Puneeth and Atul together,” Giriraj explains.
According to the director, it was challenging for Puneeth to play himself in Mythri. “Puneeth’s choice of films has always been pro society and he has made sure that his movies have a message. The only difference in this character and the film on the whole is that nothing is sugar-coated nor is it glamourised. But the story comes with a thrilling format that will excite Puneeth fans and the audience in general. Puneeth has taken a great risk and broken a lot of barriers by playing himself. There is a thin line between playing a real person and not an actor and he has done it,” he says.
Giriraj who had to meet his own challenges for Mythri says, “It was unforeseen circumstances. Just when Ilaiyaraaja was recovering, Mohanlal had a slipped disc and was bed ridden for sometime. In fact I had to travel three times to Kerala for dubbing. I am happy that in spite of a few hurdles, the film has turned out well,” he says.