Ravi Verma, the famous stunt master both in the Southern and Hindi film industry, is set to create history in Sandalwood by bringing brothers Shivarajkumar and Puneeth Rajkumar together onscreen. Though many have tried getting the duo together for a film, it is only Ravi who has been successful. According to the debutant director, it is producer Jayanna who will be investing money in the big budget film, and made the dream casting possible. The stunt director, who is currently in Ahmedabad to look for locations for Shah Rukh Khan’s upcoming film Raees, says that he will hopefully start working on his debut direction in the second half of 2015. “Over the last four months, I have been preparing for Shah Rukh Khan’s movie, which will be directed by Rahul Dholakia. I have heard the story and now, I am working on the fight scenes. The film starts rolling from March. Meanwhile, both Shivarajkumar and Puneeth will be completing their prior commitments,” he says.
Ravi, who was ready with his story, was looking for the right casting. And to his advantage, both the brothers who heard the script and their characters, readily agreed to be part of the project in one sitting. According to Ravi, both Shivarajkumar and Puneeth have equal importance in the film. “Now that the story is set, I will soon start finding an apt title and settling with the star cast. Though it is too early to reveal the plot, I am confident that the huge fan following of Shivarajkumar, Puneeth and me, will be happy with the story and the way I project both of them on screen,” he says.
Ravi says that he pushed his story only when he got the right combination of actors. However, this required big investment.
“I had people from the Telugu and Hindi industry coming forward to take up my project. I also had the option of working with Shah Rukh Khan on the same subject, but that would mean that I would have to wait till 2017. I would definitely remake it in Telugu or Hindi after I complete this ambitious project in Kannada,” says Ravi. “I wrote this story keeping good Indian actors and a national audience in mind. There will be no compromises made for my debut venture. We only hear about big budget films made in other regional languages. This film will stand on the same platform and budget as those,” he adds.
Presently, Puneeth is busy with Pavan Wadeyar’s Rana Vikrama, following which he will be shooting for Dodmane Huduga to be directed by Soori. Shivarajkumar has almost completed Vajrakaya with A Harsha, and is busy with Shivalinga directed by P Vasu. For Ravi, who was recently awarded the title Sahasa Sarvabahuma, the film would be a booster, according to him.